Abstract
ZrO2-SiO2 gels were prepared by prehydrolysis method with sol-gel process. Then,the wet gels were aged at different temperatures (60,110,170 °C) in ethanol or alkaline solution (pH=8). Finally, the monolithic ZrO2-SiO2 aerogels were obtained by supercritical fluid drying. N2 adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used to characterize the microstructure of aerogels. The aim of this research is to study the effect of aging temperature and pH value of aging solution on the microstructure of ZrO2-SiO2 aerogels. The results show that the specific surface area and pore volume of ZrO2-SiO2 aerogels aging in alkaline solution (pH=8) is lower than that of aging in the ethanol. And there is a shift of the pore size distribution towards larger values. This is because the cross-linking reaction in alkaline solution enlarges the particle size. As the aging temperature increases, the specific surface area and pore volume decrease and the particle size distribution of ZrO2-SiO2 aerogels is more uniform.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
