Solvent Cavitation during Ambient Pressure Drying of Silica Aerogels.

ABSTRACT: Ambient-pressure drying of silica gels stands out as an economical and accessible process for producing monolithic silica aerogels. Gels experience significant deformations during drying due to the capillary pressure generated at the liquid-vapor interface in submicron pores. Proper control of the gel properties and the drying rate is essential to enable reversible drying shrinkage without mechanical failure. Recent in operando microcomputed X-ray tomography (μCT) imaging revealed the kinetics of the phase composition during drying and spring-back. However, to fully explain the underlying mechanisms, spatial resolution is required. Here we show evidence of evaporation by hexane cavitation during the ambient-pressure drying of silylated silica gels by spatially resolved quantitative analysi

SUBMITTER: Gonthier J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11210208 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature