Bioinspired Synthesis of Monolithic and Layered Aerogels

Han, Xiao; Hassan, Khalil T.; Harvey, Alan; Kulijer, Dejan; Oila, Adrian; Hunt, Michael R.C.; Siller, Lidija

doi:10.1002/adma.201706294

Bioinspired Synthesis of Monolithic and Layered Aerogels

Han, Xiao; Hassan, Khalil T.; Harvey, Alan; Kulijer, Dejan; Oila, Adrian; Hunt, Michael R.C.; Siller, Lidija

Authors

Xiao Han

Khalil T. Hassan

Alan Harvey

Dejan Kulijer

Adrian Oila

Dr Michael Hunt m.r.c.hunt@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Lidija Siller

Abstract

Aerogels are the least dense and most porous materials known to man, with potential applications from lightweight superinsulators to smart energy materials. To date their use has been seriously hampered by their synthesis methods, which are laborious and expensive. Taking inspiration from the life cycle of the damselfly, a novel ambient pressure‐drying approach is demonstrated in which instead of employing low‐surface‐tension organic solvents to prevent pore collapse during drying, sodium bicarbonate solution is used to generate pore‐supporting carbon dioxide in situ, significantly reducing energy, time, and cost in aerogel production. The generic applicability of this readily scalable new approach is demonstrated through the production of granules, monoliths, and layered solids with a number of precursor materials.

Citation

Han, X., Hassan, K. T., Harvey, A., Kulijer, D., Oila, A., Hunt, M. R., & Siller, L. (2018). Bioinspired Synthesis of Monolithic and Layered Aerogels. Advanced Materials, 30(23), Article 1706294. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201706294

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 7, 2018
Online Publication Date	Apr 25, 2018
Publication Date	Jun 1, 2018
Deposit Date	Apr 16, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Apr 17, 2018
Journal	Advanced Materials
Print ISSN	0935-9648
Electronic ISSN	1521-4095
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	30
Issue	23
Article Number	1706294
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201706294

Files

Accepted Journal Article (891 Kb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Han, Xiao, Hassan, Khalil T., Harvey, Alan, Kulijer, Dejan, Oila, Adrian, Hunt, Michael R.C. & Siller, Lidija (2018). Bioinspired Synthesis of Monolithic and Layered Aerogels. Advanced Materials, 30(23): 1706294, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201706294. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley-VCH Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.