Methods of making robust bijels include dispersing metal oxide precursors and/or metal salts into at least one phase of a bijel and hydrolyzing and condensing the metal oxide precursors and/or metal salts in a sol-gel reaction to form sintered bridges between interfacially jammed surface-active nanoparticles. The methods can be used with any bijels, including those produced during solvent transfer-induced phase separation (STRIPS) methods and other methods. A robust bijel includes chemically sintered bridges between the interfacially jammed surface-active nanoparticles. Methods of making nanocatalyst-functionalized sintered bijels include adsorbing metal salts to a surface of sintered interfacially jammed nanoparticles of bijels, and reducing the metal precursors on the surface of the sintered nanoparticles. Nanocatalyst-functionalized sintered bijels include catalytically active metal or metal oxide nanocatalysts on a surface of the sintered interfacially jammed surface-active nanoparticles.

The present invention relates to a process for preparing waterglass-based silica aerogels, wherein the process comprises (a) subjecting a certain amount of a vinyltrialcoxysilane to hydrolysis in the presence of water and an inorganic acid under stirring conditions to produce a hydrolyzed vinyltrialcoxysilane solution; (b) treating a waterglass solution with an acidic cationic-exchange resin to produce a silicic acid solution; (c) forming a sol phase by contacting the hydrolyzed vinylalcoxysilane solution with the silicic acid solution; (d) forming a gel phase by adjusting the pH of the sol phase to a value in the range of from 4 to 6; and (e) subjecting the gel phase to supercritical drying to produce an aerogel. The present invention is also related to waterglass-based silica aerogels obtained by the process according to the invention, which are functionalized with vinyl groups.

The present invention relates to a process for preparing waterglass-based silica aerogels, wherein the process comprises (a) subjecting a certain amount of a vinyltrialcoxysilane to hydrolysis in the presence of water and an inorganic acid under stirring conditions to produce a hydrolyzed vinyltrialcoxysilane solution; (b) treating a waterglass solution with an acidic cationic-exchange resin to produce a silicic acid solution; (c) forming a sol phase by contacting the hydrolyzed vinylalcoxysilane solution with the silicic acid solution; (d) forming a gel phase by adjusting the pH of the sol phase to a value in the range of from 4 to 6; and (e) subjecting the gel phase to supercritical drying to produce an aerogel. The present invention is also related to waterglass-based silica aerogels obtained by the process according to the invention, which are functionalized with vinyl groups.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an aerogel sheet. The method for manufacturing an aerogel sheet includes: a step (a) of preparing silica sol; a step (b) of preparing a gelling catalyst; a step (c) of injecting the silica sol, which is prepared in the step (a), to a surface of a blanket to impregnate the silica sol; and a step (d) of injecting the gelling catalyst, which is prepared in the step (b), to the surface of the blanket, into which the silica sol is impregnated, to gelate the silica sol.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an aerogel sheet. The method for manufacturing an aerogel sheet includes: a step (a) of preparing silica sol; a step (b) of preparing a gelling catalyst; a step (c) of injecting the silica sol, which is prepared in the step (a), to a surface of a blanket to impregnate the silica sol; and a step (d) of injecting the gelling catalyst, which is prepared in the step (b), to the surface of the blanket, into which the silica sol is impregnated, to gelate the silica sol.

A method for manufacturing an aerogel blanket, the method capable of simplifying manufacturing equipment by performing gelation while rotating a reaction vessel, improving manufacturing efficiency by controlling manufacturing time regardless of the thickness of an aerogel blanket and improving thermal conductivity by uniformly forming an aerogel in a substrate for blanket.

A method for manufacturing an aerogel blanket, the method capable of simplifying manufacturing equipment by performing gelation while rotating a reaction vessel, improving manufacturing efficiency by controlling manufacturing time regardless of the thickness of an aerogel blanket and improving thermal conductivity by uniformly forming an aerogel in a substrate for blanket.

A dual ligand sol-gel sorbent and method of manufacture is provided herein. The dual ligand sol-gel sorbent provides superior enrichment effects through simultaneous exploitation of superhydrophobicity of one of the ligands and the ability of the other ligand to undergo - interaction with hydrophobic aromatic analytes. Sorbent performance is enhanced both in terms of analyte enrichment and sorbent stability, such as pH stability and solvent stability.

A dual ligand sol-gel sorbent and method of manufacture is provided herein. The dual ligand sol-gel sorbent provides superior enrichment effects through simultaneous exploitation of superhydrophobicity of one of the ligands and the ability of the other ligand to undergo - interaction with hydrophobic aromatic analytes. Sorbent performance is enhanced both in terms of analyte enrichment and sorbent stability, such as pH stability and solvent stability.

Provided is a hydrophobic silica powder that can be obtained by the sol-gel process, and that is excellent in charge properties. The hydrophobic silica powder has a hydrophobicity of 50% or more, a saturated water content of 4% or less, and a nitrogen content of 0.05% or more.