Microstructure and transmittance of silica gels for application as transparent heat insulation materials

Transparent heat insulation materials (TIMs) exhibit great potential for different solar applications. Despite this fact, they are not used widely, since they are either very expensive (aerogel) or made from organic materials and, thus, are not resistant to higher temperatures. Xerogel, obtained from silica gel by drying at ambient pressure, is a promising material for the production of TIMs. This study investigates different treatments applied during the production of silica gel and their influence on its optical and structural properties. To this end, silica sol was gelled and the resulting silica gel was aged before it was either hydrothermally treated or fired. Subsequently, radiation transmission measurements from 400 to 2700 nm as well as porosity, specific surface area, and scanning electron microscopic/transmissions electron microscopic measurements were conducted. It was found that under certain conditions, the transmittance can be improved by firing as well as by hydrothermal treatment. Firing at 600 °C with 10-min dwell time and hydrothermal treatment at 120 °C with 5-h dwell time resulted in the silica gels with the highest transmittance of 63 up to 66 %. The porosity (24–76 %), the pore radii (3–26 nm), and the specific light absorption by embedded water and SiOH molecules could be adjusted over a wide range.