Investigations on the effect of experimental parameters on the porosity features of silica aerogels synthesized at ambient drying conditions

Silica aerogels were synthesized through an ambient pressure drying technique, and the porosities of the aerogels were tailored over a wide range, by varying the experimental parameters such as hydrolysis temperature, gelation pH, aging pH and aging solvent. Pore size, pore volume and surface area could tailor between 6.2–18 nm, 0.99–2.04 cc g−1 and 452–635 m2 g−1 respectively by changing the hydrolysis–condensation conditions. By varying the aging pH from 3 to 11, pore size and pore volume was tailored in between 5.8–13.4 nm and 0.88–1.45 cc g−1 respectively. The investigation will be highly beneficial for the synthesis of tailor made silica aerogels at ambient conditions.