Fabrication of a silica aerogel and examination of its hydrophobic properties via contact angle and 3M water repellency tests

5th International Conference on Nanomaterials and Materials Engineering

Mazrouei-Sebdani, Z.^1 ; Javazmi, L.^2 ; Khoddami, A.^1 ; Shams-Ghahfarokhi, F.^1 ; Low, T.^2

Department of Textile Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan

84156-83111, Iran^1

Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba

QLD

4350, Australia^2

关键词: Alcohol contents;    Hydrophobic properties;    Lightweight materials;    Nanoporous silica;    SEM micrographs;    Silica aerogels;    Water contact angle;    Water repellency;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/204/1/012014/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/204/1/012014

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Aerogels are dry gels with a very high specific pore volume. Aerogels with increased hydrophobicity have significant potential to expand their use as lightweight materials. Considering its special nanostructure and exceptional properties, this paper focuses on the synthesis and hydrophobic evaluation of a silica aerogel. The structural properties were investigated by measuring density, SEM micrographs, and BET analyses. Also, the hydrophobic evaluation was carried out by measuring 3M water repellency and water/alcohol contact angle. The BET analysis showed successful synthesis of the nanoporous silica aerogel with a pore size of 24 nm and porosity of 89%. The synthesized aerogel showed 3M water repellency of 3 and water contact angle of 129.6°. Also, it is worth-mentioning that as the alcohol content of the drops in 3M water repellency test is increased, the drop contact angle is decreased due to its lower surface tension. Thus, the contact angle reaches the zero at 3M water repellency test number of 4 (water/alcohol 60/40).