Elastic Properties of Porous Silica Derived from Colloidal Gels

The elastic properties were determined for gel-derived vitreous silica sintered from a relative density of 0.15 to full density. The gels were made from colloidal silica, potassium soluble silicate, and formamide. The soluble silicate was found to reinforce the gel network during gelation and its concentration relative to the colloidal silica affected Young's modulus for samples of relative density, 0.15 to 0.6 Young's modulus varied from 300 to 700 MPa at a relative density of 0.15 as a function of the soluble silicate concentration. Young's modulus at full density was measured to be 72.6 GPa. Poisson's ratio was found to be a function of relative density.