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Strengthening and aging of wet silica gels for up-scaling of aerogel preparation

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Abstract

In order to enhance the mechanical properties of wet gels for aerogel production, aging studies by using three different routes was performed. The wet gels were prepared from a polyethoxydisiloxane precursor by using HF as a catalyst. The three different aging routes studied were i) aging in sealed mould, ii) aging in solvent and iii) aging in simulated pore liquid, i.e. a solvent with small amounts of water and HF resembling the mother liquor. All aging processes gave stronger and stiffer wet gels however, a maximum in strength and stiffness was observed after a certain aging time. The simulated pore liquids allowed short aging time in the range of 8 h to achieve the maximum mechanical strength, however the maximum in strength was lower than for the other two aging routes. From the wet gels, monolithic and transparent aerogels were obtained by supercritical drying at small-, mid- and large-scale. The aging strengthening process was successfully transferred to larger scales giving both lower density and higher transparency compared to small-scale.

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Acknowledgments

This work is a part of the EU project, HILIT+, contract ENK6-CT-2002-00648. Financial support from the European Commission is highly acknowledged. Particular thanks are addressed to P.A. Bonnardel and J. Slifirski (PCAS, France). Thank you to the other members of the HILIT+ project for their helpful collaboration: K.I. Jensen, J.M. Schultz and F.H. Kristiansen (DTU, Denmark), P. Nitz (FhG-ISE), B. Sunden and V. Andersson (LTH, Sweden).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    R. A. Strøm & M.-A. Einarsrud

  2. Ecole des Mines de Paris CENERG, Sophia Antipolis, B.P. 207, 06904, Sophia Antipolis, Cedex, France

    Y. Masmoudi & A. Rigacci

  3. Airglass AB, Box 150, 24500, Staffanstorp, Sweden

    G. Petermann & L. Gullberg

  4. CSTB, 24, rue Joseph Fourier, F-38400, Saint Martin d’Héres, France

    B. Chevalier

Authors
  1. R. A. Strøm
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  2. Y. Masmoudi
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  3. A. Rigacci
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  4. G. Petermann
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  5. L. Gullberg
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  6. B. Chevalier
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  7. M.-A. Einarsrud
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Correspondence to M.-A. Einarsrud.

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Strøm, R.A., Masmoudi, Y., Rigacci, A. et al. Strengthening and aging of wet silica gels for up-scaling of aerogel preparation. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 41, 291–298 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-006-1505-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-006-1505-7

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