One-pot synthesis of polymer-reinforced silica aerogels from high internal phase emulsion templates

Abstract

HypothesisConventional strategies for strengthening silica aerogels through polymer modification always lead to a significant density increase and an obvious sacrifice of thermal insulation performance. In this work, we propose a facile one-pot method for the preparation of polymer-reinforced silica aerogels via polymerization of water-in-oil high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) templates. ExperimentsHyperbranched vinyl-modified polyethoxysiloxane (VPEOS) is used as both emulsion stabilizer and silica source. FT-IR spectra of VPEOS are recorded to confirm the successful incorporation of vinyl groups. The pore structure of polymer-functionalized silica aerogels is characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), nitrogen adsorption–desorption and mercury intrusion porosimetry. FindingsThe Young’s modulus is increased from 0.69 to 19.28 MPa, nearly 28 times that of unmodified silica aerogels. Moreover, the silica aerogels present a superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 152.4° and good thermal insulation. The superior performance properties of the polymer-reinforced silica aerogels over pure silica aerogels may guarantee their wide applications in energy and aerospace fields.