(767g) The New Composite Silica Aerogel By Mixing With Graphene Oxide

Silica aerogel are low density, high surface area porous solids composed of more than 90% of air, traditionally synthesized by sol-gel process. Based on these properties, the silica aerogel can be an ideal candidate for various potential applications. But the brittle property limits its large scale application. So, this work based on finding out a way to increase it mechanical property.

The graphene is widely known for its outstanding mechanical property; in this work, the composite silica aerogel was made by adding with the graphene oxide during the sol-gel process, using the hydro-thermal method, letting the gelation happen under high temperature and pressure. Then the supercritical drying was used to turn the hydrogel into the aerogel. As the graphene oxide sheets could interweave into the net work of the silica aerogel and it could also cover the cluster of the silica aerogel, the mechanical property of the composite aerogel could be improved in some degree. And also the product’s flexibility has increased. Different from the previous report, the product turns out to be hydrophobic. The BET test shows that the surface area could reach up to 297 m²/g, and the particles with sizes around 30nm.