Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-28T12:38:48.492Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preparation and Characterization of Aerogel-Based Carbon Nanocomposites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2011

Wanqing Cao ,
Xian Yun Song  and
Arlon J. Hunt
Wanqing Cao
Affiliation:
Energy and Environment Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Xian Yun Song
Affiliation:
Energy and Environment Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Arlon J. Hunt
Affiliation:
Energy and Environment Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Get access

Abstract

Aerogels are highly porous solids prepared by sol-gel processing and supercritical evacuation. Because of their high surface area, aerogels can be used as an effective catalyst for the thermal decomposition of many gaseous compounds. A variety of hydrocarbon gases have been chosen to deposit carbon in the aerogel matrix, with the deposition temperature varying from 500° to 850°C depending on the hydrocarbon used. The amount of carbon that can be deposited in the aerogel is surprisingly large, reaching up to 10 times the original weight after extensive deposition using acetylene. Overall, the aerogel composites prepared have a uniform microstructure with the average particle size in the nanometer range. In addition, we have observed some interesting graphitic structures including carbon nanotubes and rings of various shapes. Carbon deposited in the aerogel can reduce infrared transmission of the material as well as volume shrinkage at elevated temperatures, thereby improving its thermal performance.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 349: Symposium T – Novel Forms of Carbon II , 1994 , 87
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Kistler, S.S., Nature 127, 741 (1931).Google Scholar
2. Fricke, J. in Aerogels, edited by Fricke, J. (Springer, Berlin, 1986) pp. 2–18; P.H. Tewari, A.J. Hunt and K.D. Lofftus, ibid., pp. 31-37.Google Scholar
3. Hrubesh, L.W., Tillotson, T.M. and Poco, J.F. in Better Ceramics Through Chemistry IV, edited by Zelinski, B.J.J., Brinker, C.J., Clark, D.E. and Ulrich, D.R. (Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 180, Pittsburgh, PA, 1990) pp. 315–319.Google Scholar
4. Hunt, A.J., Jantzen, C.A. and Cao, W. in Insulation Materials: Testing and Applications, 2nd Vol., edited by Graves, R.S. and Wysocki, D.C. (American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, 1991) pp 455–463.Google Scholar
5. Tewari, P.H., Hunt, A.J., and Lofftus, K.D., Mater. Lett. 3, 363 (1985).Google Scholar
6. Hunt, A.J. and Lofftus, K.D. in Better Ceramics Through Chemistry III, edited by Brinker, C.J., Clark, D.E. and Ulrich, D.R. (Mater. Res. Soc. Proc. 121, Pittsburgh, PA, 1988) pp. 679–684.Google Scholar
7. Baker, R.T.K., Carbon 27, 315 (1989).Google Scholar
8. Rodriguez, N.M., J. Mater. Res. 8, 3233 (1993).Google Scholar
9. Dannerberg, E.M. in Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd ed. (Wiley, New York, 1978) pp. 631–666 Google Scholar
10. lijima, S., Nature 354, 56 (1991).Google Scholar
11. Ebbesen, T.W. and Ajayan, P.M., Nature 358, 220 (1992).Google Scholar
12. Song, X.Y., Cao, W., and Hunt, A.J. in this Symposium Proceedings.Google Scholar
13. Hunt, A.J. and Cao, W., unpublished data.Google Scholar