Journal of Asian Ceramic Societies (Jun 2017)
Fabrication of hydrophobic polymethylsilsesquioxane aerogels by a surfactant-free method using alkoxysilane with ionic group
Abstract
Phase separation control is an important factor to prepare a porous monolith by an aqueous sol–gel reaction. Here, we report a surfactant-free synthesis method to obtain hydrophobic polymethylsilsesquioxane aerogels by copolymerizing a cationic-functionalized alkoxysilane N-trimethoxysilylpropyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride. The resultant materials have low-density, high visible-light transmittance, and high thermal insulating equivalent to those of prepared under the presence of surfactant.
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