Structure and diffuse-boundary in hydrophobic and sodium dodecyl sulfate-modified silica aerogels

Author(s)

Perissinotto, Amanda P. ^[1] ; Awano, Carlos M. ^[1] ; de Vicente, Fabio S. ^[1] ; Donatti, Dario A. ^[1] ; Mesquita, Alexandre ^[1] ; da Silva, Luis F. ^[2] ; Vollet, Dimas R. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Unesp Univ Estadual Paulista, IGCE, Dept Fis, Cx P 178, BR-13500970 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[2] Unesp Univ Estadual Paulista, IQ, Dept Bioquim & Tecnol, Rua Prof Francisco Degni 55, BR-14800060 Araraquara, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Microporous and Mesoporous Materials; v. 223, p. 196-202, MAR 15 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 3

Abstract

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and nitrogen adsorption were used to study ambient pressure drying (APD) silica aerogels prepared from hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) with additions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The surfactant-extracted precursor wet gels have presented mass-fractal structure with typical fractal dimension 2.25 in a SAXS characteristic length scale from similar to 10 nm to similar to 0.35 nm. Hydrophobic APD aerogels with typical specific surface of 800 m(2)/g and bulk density of 0.20 g/cm(3) were obtained after silylation of the precursor wet gels with a mixture of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS). The pore volume and the mean pore size of the APD aerogels increased with increasing the SDS quantity. APD aerogels presented most of the mass-fractal characteristics of the precursor wet gels at large length scales. The radius of gyration of the clusters of the APD aerogels (typically 17 nm) increased with increasing the SDS quantity, while the radius of the silica primary particles (typically 2.0 nm) increased at first with the addition of SDS (with respect to the sample without SDS) and decreased regularly afterward with increasing the SDS quantity. The primary particles presented yet some internal inhomogeneity and a diffuse-boundary interface with thickness of about 0.7 nm, according to a linear-gradient model for the diffuse boundary. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/18149-5 - Study of Photosensitivity and photoluminescence in organically modified silicates films prepared by sol-gel
• Grantee: Fábio Simões de Vicente
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants