Bismaleimide bridged silsesquioxane aerogels with excellent heat resistance: effect of sol-gel solvent polarity

Melamine Network as a Solution for Significant Enhancement of the Mechanical, Adsorptive, and Surface Properties in a Novel Carbon Nanomaterial-Silica Aerogel Composite

Silica aerogels exhibit exceptional characteristics such as mesoporosity, light weight, high surface area, and pore volume. Nevertheless, their utilization in industrial settings remains constrained due to their brittleness, moisture sensitivity, and costly synthesis procedure. Several studies have proved that adding nanofillers, such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) or graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), can improve the mechanical strength of the aerogels. The incorporation of nanofillers is often accompanied by agglomeration and pore blockage, which, in turn, deteriorates the surface area, pore volume, and low density. Including flexible melamine foam (MF) as a scaffold for the silica aerogel and nanofiller composite can prevent the restacking of the nanofillers through π-π interaction, hence maintaining the incredible properties of aerogels and improving their mechanical properties. CNT, GNP, and the polymeric silica precursor, polyvinyltrimethoxysilane (PVTMS), were added to a MF, at varying concentrations, to fabricate the MF-aerogel nanocomposites. Surfactant and sonication were utilized to ensure a homogeneous dispersion of the nanofillers in the system. The presence of MF prevented the agglomeration of nanofillers, resulting in lower density and relatively higher surface properties (SBET up to 929 m2·g-1 and pore volume up to 4.34 cc·g-1). Moreover, the MF-supported samples could endure 80% strain without breakage and showed an outstanding compressive strength of up to ∼20 MPa. These aerogel nanocomposites also demonstrated an excellent volatile organic compound (∼2680 mg·g-1) and cationic dye adsorption (∼10 mg·g-1).

Evolutionary Progress of Silica Aerogels and Their Classification Based on Composition: An Overview

Aerogels are highly porous materials with fascinating properties prepared using sol-gel chemistry. Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, aerogels are recognized as potential candidates for diverse applications, including thermal insulation, sensor, environmental remediation, etc. Despite these applications, aerogels are not routinely found in our daily life because they are fragile and have highly limited scale-up productions. It remains extremely challenging to improve the mechanical properties of aerogels without adversely affecting their other properties. To boost the practical applications, it is necessary to develop efficient, low-cost methods to produce aerogels in a sustainable way. This comprehensive review surveys the progress in the development of aerogels and their classification based on the chemical composition of the network. Recent achievements in organic, inorganic, and hybrid materials and their outstanding physical properties are discussed. The major focus of this review lies in approaches that allow tailoring of aerogel properties to meet application-driven requirements. We begin with a brief discussion of the fundamental issues in silica aerogels and then proceed to provide an overview of the synthesis of organic and hybrid aerogels from various precursors. Organic aerogels show promising results with excellent mechanical strength, but there are still several issues that need further exploration. Finally, growing points and perspectives of the aerogel field are summarized.

The intrinsic microstructure of supramolecular hydrogels derived from α-cyclodextrin and pluronic F127: nanosheet building blocks and hierarchically self-assembled structures

Supramolecular hydrogels derived from the self-assembly of α-cyclodextrin with pluronic F127 were found to be built up with polypseudorotaxane nanosheets with a thickness of 30-40 nm and possessed flower-like hierarchically assembled structures. The findings in this work could provide critical guidance for material design for biomedical purposes.