Obtaining Optimum Formulation in Soundproof, Thermal Insulators | WPN World People News

Results of the research have applications in building construction and oil and gas industries.

Silica aerogel is known as the lightest solid insulator in the world. This substance is produced through super critical method, but its two-step sol-gel production method is relatively time consuming.

Efforts have been made in the past 10 years to produce this material at ambient pressure.

Single-step catalytic reactions have recently been taken into consideration to reduce the synthesis time.

This research studies the effects of the amount of water on the formation rate of the gel, mechanical properties of the synthesized gel, and the final structure of the aerogel. It also calculates the optimum value for the catalytic system.

The obtained results enable the determination of the optimum amount of water in the synthesis of aerogel. Therefore, a product with higher quality and the lowest possible value of shrinkage can be produced at a shorter period of time as well as obtaining the optimum formulation. The cost for the production of the substance is reduced through decreasing the synthesis time (increasing production rate).

In this research, sol-gels with different amount of water have been produced through a single-step method by using tetraethyl orthosilica (TEOS) as the bed material. The surface of the gel was modified to become hydrophobic.

The researchers will continue their study, and they will work on the production of aerogels from other materials, studying the performance of the materials as additives in the properties of polymers with soundproof and thermal insulating applications.

Source: Nanotechnology Now