Synthesis and characteristic of silica aerogels Original Research Article

The synthesis of silica aerogels had been carried out by hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as an aerogel precursor in ethanol solution, followed by gelation of the sols obtained and drying under supercritical conditions. The influence of concentration of TEOS, pH of hydrolysis and pH of gelation on the bulk density, specific surface area and porosity of silica aerogels were investigated.