Elastic and Superhydrophobic Monolithic Methyltrimethoxysilane-based Silica Aerogels by Two-step Sol-gel Process

The flexible and superhydrophobic properties of silica aerogels are extremely important material for thermal insulation and oil spill cleanup applications for their long-term use. Flexible silica aerogels were synthesized by using a two-step sol-gel process with precursors, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) followed by supercritical drying. Silica aerogels were prepared at different molar ratio of methanol to MTMS (M). It was observed that the silica aerogels prepared at M=28 were monolithic but inelastic in nature, however, for M=35, the obtained aerogels were monolithic, elastic in nature with less shrinkage. The microstructural studies were carried out using scanning electron microscopy and surface area measurements. The hydrophobicity was confirmed by Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy and water contact angle measurements. The detailed insight mechanism for flexible nature of silica aerogels and hydrophobic behavior were studied.