Enhanced thermal shrinkage behavior of phenolic-derived carbon aerogel-reinforced by HNTs with superior compressive strength performance

A novel carbon/m-HNTs composite aerogel was synthesized by introducing the modified halloysite nanotubes (m-HNTs) into phenolic (PR) aerogels through chemical grafting, followed with carbonization treatment. In order to explore the best proportion of HNTs to phenolic, the micromorphology of PR/m-HNTs were investigated by SEM before carbonization, confirming 10 wt% of m-HNTs is most beneficial to the porous network of aerogels. The interaction between PR and HNTs was studied by FTIR spectra, and microstructure evolution of the target product-carbon/m-HNTs composite aerogel were illustrated by SEM and TEM techniques. SEM patterns indicated that the carbon/m-HNTs aerogels maintain a stable porous structure at 1000 °C (carbonization temperature), while a ~20 nm carbon layer was formed around m-HNTs generating an integral unit through TEM analysis. Specific surface area and pore size distribution of composite aerogels were analyzed based on mercury intrusion porosimetry and N₂ adsorption–desorption method, the obtained results stayed around 500 m²g^?1 and 1.00 cm³g^?1 (pore volume) without significant discrepancy, compared with pure aerogel, showing the uniformity of pore size. The weight loss rate (26.76%) decreased greatly compared with pure aerogel, at the same time, the best volumetric shrinkage rate was only 30.83%, contributed by the existence of HNTs supporting the neighbor structure to avoid over-shrinking. The highest compressive strength reached to 4.43 MPa, while the data of pure aerogel was only 1.52 MPa, demonstrating the excellent mechanical property of carbon/m-HNTs aerogels.     

Carbon Aerogels as Electrode Material in Supercapacitors

Due to their large specific surface area and their high electrical conductivity carbon aerogels are promising materials for electrodes in electrochemical double-layer capacitors (supercapacitor). The carbon aerogels were made via pyrolysis of resorcinol formaldehyde aerogels. The latter were prepared by supercritical and subcritical drying as well. The important findings of our investigation were, that the highest capacities of 46 F/cm³ were measured for samples with a density of about 800 kg/m³ pyrolyzed at 800°C. Also it was shown that RF-gels with molar resorcinol/catalyst ratios 1000 or higher can be dried subcritically without cracking or significant shrinkage. Carbon aerogels derived from these RF-aerogels have a small mesopore surface area, however an especially large micropore area. They provide electrical capacities which are most suitable for their use in supercapacitors.     

石墨烯基气凝胶的制备及油吸附性能研究进展

海上漏油的频繁发生以及采油废水、工业含油污水的大量排放造成水资源大片污染和生态系统平衡的严重破坏。目前，从水体中分离油品和有机污染物已受到越来越多的商业和学术的关注。石墨烯基气凝胶是由二维石墨烯片层组装成的三维宏观材料，因其孔隙率高、比表面积大、密度低、机械性能强等特点在油水分离领域具有广阔的应用前景，已成为当今的研究热点之一。本文结合最新研究进展系统地总结了石墨烯基气凝胶的结构设计、组装及干燥方法，归纳了近年来其在油水分离中的应用进展，并对石墨烯基气凝胶在油水分离领域的研究现状和未来研究方向做了简要评述，以期为该领域的深入探索提供新的视角。     

Synthesis and Characterization of Hydrophobic TMES/TEOS Based Silica Aerogels

The experimental results on the effect of adding trimethylethoxysilane (TMES) as a co-precursor on the hydrophobicity and physical properties of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) based silica aerogels, are reported. The molar ratio of TEOS, ethanol (EtOH), water (0.001 M oxalic acid catalyst) was kept constant at 1:5:7 respectively, while the molar ratio of TMES/TEOS (A) was varied from 0 to 0.6. It has been observed that as the A value increases, the gelation time increases. The hydrophobicity was tested by measuring the contact angle, and the surface chemical modification was confirmed by the FTIR spectroscopy studies. The thermal stability of the hydrophobic aerogels was studied in the temperature range from 25 to 800°C. The hydrophobic nature of the aerogel could be maintained up to a temperature of 287°C and above this temperature the aerogels become hydrophilic. The bulk density and the optical transmittance of the aerogels have been found to decrease with increase in A value. The aerogels have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Optical transmittance, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Differential thermal analysis (DTA) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Contact angle measurements.     

对苯二酚-甲醛有机气凝胶的结构测试及性能研究

首次用溶胶-凝胶法和CO2超临界干燥技术制备了对苯二酚-甲醛有机气凝胶,并经高温碳化处理得到其碳气凝胶,测得气凝胶的比表面积由碳化前的375.28 M2/G增大到碳化后的468.66 M2/G,碳气凝胶的孔径集中分布在15NM以内。观察到其表观形貌,以及碳气凝胶中存在微晶结构。研究了不同反应物配比对凝胶性能的影响,并发现碳气凝胶具有良好导电性。     

Mechanical properties of silica aerogels prepared from a mixture of TEOS and organo-alkoxysilanes of type R1SiX3

Silica aerogels were prepared from a mixture of tetraethylorthosilicate and organo- alkoxysilanes. The effects of organo-alkoxysilanes on the mechanical properties of the silica aerogels were studied. The flexibility of silica aerogels was significantly improved by incorporation of organo-alkoxysilanes. When MTES and TEOS were combined as precursors of silica areogels, with the increased amount of MTES, the apparent elastic modulus and apparent compressive strength monotonously rose. At the same organo- alkoxysilanes to TEOS ratio, the size of alkyl groups of the organo-alkoxysilanes had little effect on the mechanical properties. In series of MTES and TEOS, the lowest elastic modulus of silica skeleton and the highest compressive strength of silica skeleton were observed at MTES to TEOS ratio of around 50：50. At a certain organo-alkoxysilanes to TEOS ratio, the elastic modulus of silica skeleton increased and the compressive strength of silica skeleton decreased with the size increase of the alkvl grouns.     

Preparation and properties of PMMA modified silica aerogels from diatomite

Diatomite was used as raw material to prepare sodium silicate with a modulus of 3.1 by alkalidissolution method and the resulted sodium silicate solution was employed as a precursor. Methyl methacrylate monomers were introduced in wet gels through solution-immersion, and upon heating at 70 ℃, the mesoporous surfaces throughout the skeletal framework were coated with the polymer layer. PMMA modified silica aerogels were successfully synthesized via ambient pressure drying. The properties were investigated by FTIR, NMR, TGA, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, FESEM and nano-indentation, etc. Results indicate that with the increasing of PMMA incorporated into silica aerogels, the bulk density and the BET surface area increase, the porosity decreases. Through the observation of FESEM, it is found that the interconnecting pores and the big pores add, the pore size distribution expands from 5-17 to 28-150 nm. By comparison, the PMMA modified silica aerogels achieve a 52-fold increase in hardness and a 10-fold increase in modulus.     

Optical Design of Silica Aerogels for On-Demand Thermal Management

Silica aerogels, a type of porous material featuring extra low density and thermal conductivity, have drawn increasing interest from both academia and industry owing to their excellent thermal insulation performance. However, thermal insulation is always the single consideration when silica aerogels are used for thermal management. In this study, the on-demand thermal management (ODTM) of silica aerogel with either passive thermal insulation, passive heating, or passive cooling in different environments is revealed. The ODTM behavior of silica aerogels can be simply fulfilled through their optical property variations such as solar light transparency and infrared emissivity, which are controllable via the microstructures of the building blocks and surface composition design. Robust solar heating of 25 °C higher than the ambient in the daytime and sub-ambient cooling of 7 °C at night is achieved with the traditional transparent silica aerogel. Interestingly, sub-ambient cooling of 5 °C in the daytime and a warmer state on cold nights is achieved by modifying its solar transmittance and infrared emissivity. This study guides a comprehensive understanding of the thermal management behavior of silica aerogels and leads to ODTM applications of silica aerogels by tailoring their optical and thermal conductivity properties.     

Ultraprecise 3D Printed Graphene Aerogel Microlattices on Tape for Micro Sensors and E-Skin

3D printed graphene aerogels hold promise for flexible sensing fields due to their flexibility, low density, conductivity, and piezo-resistivity. However, low printing accuracy/fidelity and stochastic porous networks have hindered both sensing performance and device miniaturization. Here, printable graphene oxide (GO) inks are formulated through modulating oxygen functional groups, which allows printing of self-standing 3D graphene oxide aerogel microlattice (GOAL) with an ultra-high printing resolution of 70 µm. The reduced GOAL (RGOAL) is then stuck onto the adhesive tape as a facile and large-scale strategy to adapt their functionalities into target applications. Benefiting from the printing resolution of 70 µm, RGOAL tape shows better performance and data readability when used as micro sensors and robot e-skin. By adjusting the molecular structure of GO, the research realizes regulation of rheological properties of GO hydrogel and the 3D printing of lightweight and ultra-precision RGOAL, improves the sensing accuracy of graphene aerogel electronic devices and realizes the device miniaturization, expanding the application of graphene aerogel devices to a broader field such as micro robots, which is beyond the reach of previous reports.