Synthesis of silica aerogel particles and its application to thermal insulation paint

Abstract

Silica aerogel (SA) particle was synthesized and characterized. The effects of silica content in silicic acid solution and molar ratio of trimethyl chlorosilane (TMCS)/pore water on silica aerogel physical characteristics such as surface area, pore volume, apparent density, and porosity were investigated. We observed that when the silica content increased from 4 to 7% of weight (wt%), the silica aerogel surface area increased from 628.5 m2/g to 914.4 m2/g and thereafter (>9%). When the molar ratio of TMCS/pore water increased from 0.1–0.4, the silica aerogel’s surface area increased from 816.8 m2/g to 924.1 m2/g. The highest silica aerogel surface area of 924.1 m2/g and porosity of 96.4% were achieved with a silica content in silicic acid of 7.011 wt% and TMCS/pore water of 0.4. Finally, silicon aerogel particles applied to water-based paint to improve the thermal insulation was about 1.2 °C with surrounding ambient temperature of 45 °C.