Relationship analysis of processing parameters with micro and macro structure of silica aerogel dried at ambient pressure

The results apparently showed that the processing temperature presented the highest effectiveness on the pore structure, porosity and density of the synthesized aerogels. Synthesizing at the temperature of 30 °C gave rise to a dense structure with very small pore size (3 nm) and porosity of 59% which exhibited a type-I adsorption-desorption isotherm. Other processing parameters affected the micro and macro structure but their effects were less significant compared to the temperature effect.