Hydrophobic silica aerogels prepared with ambient pressure drying and the adsorption properties

A new method to prepare hydrophobic silica aerogels as effective adsorptive material was introduced. Polyethoxydisiloxanes (E-40) was used as silicon source and hydrophobic silica aerogels dried at ambient pressure were prepared via sol-gel process and surface modification. Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), (CSi)-C-13-Si-29 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and pore size distribution measurement were used to characterize the morphology and pore structure of the silica aerogels. Super-micro electron balance in vacuum was used to determine the adsorption properties of the silica aerogels. The results show that the silica aerogels have a typical nano-porous microstructure with hydrophobic property. The pore size distribution is from several nanometers to dozens of nanometer. They are excellent adsorptive materials with wide applications.