Synthesis of Silica Aerogel with and without Glass Wool

Abstract

Aerogel is one of the most researched and versatile products in the current era. Since its invention, silica is mostly used for making aerogel by using three major processes called supercritical drying, ambient pressure, & freeze-drying process. So, this project illustrated the making of silica aerogel from laboratory reagent-type sodium silicate (commercial grade) available in the Nepali market and glass wool was utilized for reinforcing the structure. In this project, the work is focused on the simple method called the ambient drying process to synthesize the silica aerogel with and without glass wool. The silica gel samples were prepared from sodium silicate through the sol-gel process with and without glass wool. The gel samples were passed through the solvent exchange process using ethanol and then modified using 4:30:1 & 20:30:10 ratios of TMCS (Trimethyl Monochlorosilane): n-hexane; ethanol which gave two types of samples called Type-1 & Type-2 respectively. The modified samples were then dried at ambient temperature to get the final product. From the characterization, it was revealed that all Type-2 samples and only S1, S2, S3 & A1 of Type-1 showed the presence of Si-C bond to confirm the hydrophobic nature. Further, the contact angle of 146.7o & adsorption of organic oil was higher for the Type-2 sample. But the mechanical test was not feasible for the sample with glass wools due to cracks and improper binding between silica & glass wool.