Structural investigation in monolithic silica aerogels and thermal properties
Résumé
The influence, of the number of water molecules (n*) used to synthesize polyethoxydisiloxane (PEDS-Px) silica precursors, on the internal structure of aerogels made with those precursors in ethylacetoacetate (etac) under HF conditions and dried under CO2 supercritical conditions was studied. Gas adsorption, water thermoporometry and mercury porosimetry were used to characterize specific area and pore size distribution. The results were used to interpret the evolution of the apparent thermal conductivity of those aerogels with n*. Optical transmission was also measured to estimate optical quality of the aerogels prepared.