Rapid synthesis of water-glass based aerogels by in situ surface modification of the hydrogels

The objective of the present research was to reduce the processing time of water-glass based aerogels synthesized via an ambient pressure drying. For this purpose we employed a co-precursor method for the surface modification in hydrogels using trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS). The surface modification resulted in the displacement of pore water from the hydrogels and thereby absolutely avoiding the time-consuming solvent exchange step. The attachment of trymethylsilyl (Si(CH3)3) groups to the silica surface was confirmed by the presence of SiCH3 peaks at 2900, 1400, 1255 and 845 cm−1 in the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra. The differential thermal analysis (DTA) revealed that the aerogels maintain their hydrophobic behavior up to a maximum temperature of 500 °C above which they become hydrophilic. The physical and textural properties of the silica aerogels have been reported and the results have been discussed by taking into account the surface modification and the amounts of the pore water displaced out from the hydrogels.