Provided is a method for producing a silica aerogel blanket and an apparatus for producing the same, which are capable of easily controlling the physical properties of a silica aerogel blanket by separately injecting silica sol and a gelation catalyst to control gelation time, improving aerogel pore structure to be uniform and improving thermal insulation performance by sufficiently and uniformly impregnating the silica sol and the gelation catalyst into a blanket, reducing the loss of silica sol and gelation catalyst by allowing the silica sol and the gelation catalyst to pass on an ascending slope before gelation to remove any excessive silica sol and gelation catalyst exceeding an appropriate impregnation amount, and providing a silica aerogel blanket having less process trouble, and less dust.

It is an object of the invention to provide an economically viable process for the production of hydrophobized aerogels which works both inexpensively and in a resource-conserving manner. 2.2. This object is achieved by the provision of a process for producing organically modified aerogels by producing a sol containing [SiO.sub.4/2] units and [R.sub.xSiO.sub.(4X)/2] a units, where x may be the same or different and is 1, 2 or 3, and R may be the same or different and is hydrogen or an organic substituted or unsubstituted radical, using the sol to form a gel, surface-modifying the gel obtained in the presence of more than 0.1% by weight of a phase modifier in a mixture comprising organosiloxane and initiator, wherein the mixture contains at least 20% by weight of organosiloxane and wherein the initiator consists of acid or organosiloxane or mixtures thereof and the gels obtained are dried. 2.3. The aerogels provided can be used as insulating materials, especially in thermal insulation.

It is an object of the invention to provide an economically viable process for the production of hydrophobized aerogels which works both inexpensively and in a resource-conserving manner. 2.2. This object is achieved by the provision of a process for producing organically modified aerogels by producing a sol containing [SiO.sub.4/2] units and [R.sub.xSiO.sub.(4X)/2] a units, where x may be the same or different and is 1, 2 or 3, and R may be the same or different and is hydrogen or an organic substituted or unsubstituted radical, using the sol to form a gel, surface-modifying the gel obtained in the presence of more than 0.1% by weight of a phase modifier in a mixture comprising organosiloxane and initiator, wherein the mixture contains at least 20% by weight of organosiloxane and wherein the initiator consists of acid or organosiloxane or mixtures thereof and the gels obtained are dried. 2.3. The aerogels provided can be used as insulating materials, especially in thermal insulation.

Disclosed is a water-dispersed aerogel, having an eco-friendly composition that contains an organic solvent in a decreased amount while increasing ease of use of aerogel microparticles in a liquid phase and a method of manufacturing the water-dispersed aerogel is also provided.

Disclosed is a water-dispersed aerogel, having an eco-friendly composition that contains an organic solvent in a decreased amount while increasing ease of use of aerogel microparticles in a liquid phase and a method of manufacturing the water-dispersed aerogel is also provided.

The present invention provides a porous sustained-release body in which transparency of a porous carrier changes. The porous sustained-release body includes an inorganic monolithic porous body 1 including a skeleton body 2 of an inorganic compound and air gaps 3,4 having a three-dimensional continuous network structure formed in the skeleton body 2, and a sustained-release liquid absorbed into air gaps 2, 3, wherein the inorganic monolithic porous body 1 is opaque at an initial state, which is a state before absorption of the sustained-release liquid in which air exists in the air gaps, and refractive index of the sustained-release liquid and refractive index of the skeleton body are the same within an error range within which a portion in which the sustained-release liquid is absorbed into the air gaps changes to transparent or semitransparent.

The present invention provides a porous sustained-release body in which transparency of a porous carrier changes. The porous sustained-release body includes an inorganic monolithic porous body 1 including a skeleton body 2 of an inorganic compound and air gaps 3,4 having a three-dimensional continuous network structure formed in the skeleton body 2, and a sustained-release liquid absorbed into air gaps 2, 3, wherein the inorganic monolithic porous body 1 is opaque at an initial state, which is a state before absorption of the sustained-release liquid in which air exists in the air gaps, and refractive index of the sustained-release liquid and refractive index of the skeleton body are the same within an error range within which a portion in which the sustained-release liquid is absorbed into the air gaps changes to transparent or semitransparent.

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.

A positive electrode active material contains conductive silica and sulfur filled in pores of the conductive silica. The conductive silica is preferably a composite containing silica gel and fine particulate carbon dispersed in the silica gel. The positive electrode includes the aforementioned positive electrode active material. A rechargeable battery includes the aforementioned positive electrode.