Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2011, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (10): 2478-2484.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB20110925

• PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Synthesis of Zirconia Aerogels by Ambient Pressure Drying with Propylene Oxide Addition

GUO Xing-Zhong, YAN Li-Qing, YANG Hui, LI Jian, LI Chao-Yu, CAI Xiao-Bo   

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China
  • Received:2011-05-25 Revised:2011-06-14 Published:2011-09-27
  • Contact: YANG Hui E-mail:yanghui@zju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    The project was supported by the Key Innovation Team Project of Zhejiang Province, China (2009R50010).

Abstract: ZrO2 aerogels were successfully synthesized by the sol-gel process and ambient pressure drying using ZrO(NO3)2·5H2O as a precursor, 1,2-propylene oxide (PO) as a gelation agent, and formamide (FA) as a drying control chemical additive (DCCA). The prepared zirconia aerogel samples were characterized using differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis. The results showed that the zirconia aerogels prepared by the propylene oxide addition method had a nanoscale porous network structure, as well as supercritical dried ones, with a low bulk density (202.08 kg·m-3) and a high surface area (645.0 m2·g-1). Propylene oxide can induce gelation through its nucleophilic property and its irreversible ring-opening reaction, and thus the sol-gel process and the state of gel can be controlled.

Key words: Aerogel, Zirconia, Ambient pressure drying, Propylene oxide, Sol-gel