Aerogels for Optofluidic Waveguides

Aerogels—solid materials keeping their internal structure of interconnected submicron-sized pores intact upon exchanging the pore liquid with a gas—were first synthesized in 1932 by Samuel Kistler. Overall, an aerogel is a special form of a highly porous material with a very low solid density and it is composed of individual nano-sized particles or fibers that are connected to form a three-dimensional network. The unique properties of these materials, such as open pores and high surface areas, are attributed to their high porosity and irregular solid structure, which can be tuned through proper selection of the preparation conditions. Moreover, their low refractive index makes them a remarkable solid-cladding material for developing liquid-core optofluidic waveguides based on total internal reflection of light. This paper is a comprehensive review of the literature on the use of aerogels for optofluidic waveguide applications. First, an overview of different types of aerogels and their physicochemical properties is presented. Subsequently, possible techniques to fabricate channels in aerogel monoliths are discussed and methods to make the channel surfaces hydrophobic are described in detail. Studies in the literature on the characterization of light propagation in liquid-filled channels within aerogel monoliths as well as their light-guiding characteristics are discussed. Finally, possible applications of aerogel-based optofluidic waveguides are described.

One-Pot Synthesis and Characterization of Polyrotaxane-Silica Hybrid Aerogel

A novel kind of polyrotaxane-silica hybrid aerogel is successfully prepared via one-pot sol-gel synthesis in this work. The polyrotaxane can chemically interpenetrate with Si particles homogeneously in nanoscale, so as to shorten the gelation time and construct a flexible and mechanically strong skeleton. The supramolecular effect ascribable to the sliding motion of cyclic components in polyrotaxane is introduced into the hybrid aerogel for the first time. Compared with the brittle pure silica aerogel, the obtained polyrotaxane-silica hybrid aerogels show very low density, low thermal conductivity, and more than two orders magnitude improvement in the compression strength without compromising transparency.

Synthesis and biomedical applications of aerogels: Possibilities and challenges

Aerogels are an exceptional group of nanoporous materials with outstanding physicochemical properties. Due to their unique physical, chemical, and mechanical properties, aerogels are recognized as promising candidates for diverse applications including, thermal insulation, catalysis, environmental cleaning up, chemical sensors, acoustic transducers, energy storage devices, metal casting molds and water repellant coatings. Here, we have provided a comprehensive overview on the synthesis, processing and drying methods of the mostly investigated types of aerogels used in the biological and biomedical contexts, including silica aerogels, silica-polymer composites, polymeric and biopolymer aerogels. In addition, the very recent challenges on these aerogels with regard to their applicability in biomedical field as well as for personalized medicine applications are considered and explained in detail.