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SiO2 Aerogels

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Aerogels Handbook

Part of the book series: Advances in Sol-Gel Derived Materials and Technologies ((Adv.Sol-Gel Deriv. Materials Technol.))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on one of the most studied aerogel materials, silica aerogels. It aims at presenting a brief overview of the elaboration steps (sol–gel synthesis, aging, and drying), the textural and chemical characteristics (aggregation features, porosity, and surface chemistry), the main physical properties (from thermal, mechanical, acoustical, and optical, to biological, medical, etc.), and a rather broad panel of related potential applications of these fascinating nanostructured materials. It cannot be considered as an exhaustive synopsis but must be used as a simple tool to initiate further bibliographic studies on silica aerogels.

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Acknowledgments

One of the authors would like to warmly acknowledge the European Commission, the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME), the French National Research Agency (ANR), and ARMINES (The Contract Research Association of MINES Schools) for their financial support since the early 1990s through different projects (such as HILIT, HILIT+, PACTE Aerogels, and ISOCOMP), the historical partners among which PCAS (Longjumeau, France), CSTB (Grenoble, France), LACE (Lyon, France), NTNU (Trondheim, Norway), ULG (Liège University, Belgium), as well as Yasmine Masmoudi and Antoine Bisson plus Jihan Jabbour for their respective PhD and Post-Doc researches on silica aerogels, and, last but not least, Patrick Achard, Head of the EM&P team in which A. Rigacci has been studying aerogels for energy applications since 1994.

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  1. Institut de recherches sur la catalyse et l’environnement de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5256, IRCELYON, 2 avenue Albert Einstein, 69626, Villeurbanne, France

    Alain C. Pierre

  2. Centre Energétique et Procédés, MINES ParisTech, CEP, 1 rue Claude Daunesse, BP 207, 06904, Sophia Antipolis, France

    Arnaud Rigacci

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  1. Résidence Vert-Pré, Ch. des Placettes 6, Bottens, CH-1041, Switzerland

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  2. Technology, Department of Chemistry, Missouri University of Science &, Rolla, 65409, Missouri, USA

    Nicholas Leventis

  3. , Building Technologies Laboratory, Empa, Überlandstrasse 129, Dübendorf, CH-8600, Switzerland

    Matthias M. Koebel

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Pierre, A.C., Rigacci, A. (2011). SiO2 Aerogels. In: Aegerter, M., Leventis, N., Koebel, M. (eds) Aerogels Handbook. Advances in Sol-Gel Derived Materials and Technologies. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7589-8_2

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