PREPARATION METHOD FOR SILICA AEROGEL AT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS WITHOUT SUPERFICIAL MODIFICATION.

摘要

The present disclosure is related to the production of aerogel dust in which, regardless of the way in which the aerogel precursor is obtained, that is, the silica hydrogel, is dispersed in the form of drops in a non-polar solvent such as oil, hexane or heptane, inter alia; and controlling the solvent temperature and the agitation speed, the hydrogel spheres are allowed to consolidate their mechanical properties for a time of three to seven hours, although preferably five hours. After remaining at rest, it is dried at atmospheric pressure and thus spheres with a diameter smaller than 90 microns are obtained; which have the aerogel properties and do not have fractures. This production method avoids the use of supercritical conditions for the drying stage and the use of surface modifiers to convert the surface of the material in hydrophobic when drying at atmospheric pressure is performed.