The invention relates to a method for producing an aerogel using a sol-gel process, in which first a lyogel is formed from at least two precursor sols and the lyogel is then converted to an aerogel.

Provided is a method for purifying a waste solvent by removing carbon dioxide contained in a waste solvent derived from supercritical waste liquid generated after supercritical drying by a decompression process, and removing ammonia by a multi-stage distillation process to obtain a solvent of high purity, which can be reused in producing silica aerogel or a silica aerogel blanket.

The hybrid aerogel of the present invention includes an aerogel having a network structure created by bonded secondary particles of a metal oxide with pores formed among the secondary particles; and nano-size hollow particles of 30 nm or more and 360 nm or less in outer diameter and mixed into the aerogel. Gas flow paths formed by the communication of the pores in the aerogel are blocked by the shells of the nano-size hollow particles. Provided is a solid thermal insulation material with highly thermal insulation performance comparable to vacuum insulation and not collapsing even when atmospheric pressure acts thereon.

The present invention provides a method and kit for the treatment of surfaces, such as the skin surface of a user, to impart hydrophobic characteristics upon the surface. The treatment of surfaces to impart hydrophobicity protects equipment, personnel, and animals from the effects of aqueous solutions such as water, toxic slurries, concrete, acids and bases.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing a high hydrophobic silica aerogel having a low tap density and a hydrophobic silica aerogel prepared thereby. The method of preparing a hydrophobic silica aerogel according to the present invention may have good productivity and economic efficiency, because preparation time is reduced by simultaneously performing surface modification and solvent substitution in a single step, and may control a degree of hydrophobicity of the prepared silica aerogel by controlling a surface modification reaction by including a step of adding ammonium hydroxide. Thus, a hydrophobic silica aerogel having excellent physical properties, such as tap density and specific surface area, as well as high hydrophobicity obtained by controlling the degree of hydrophobicity may be prepared.

The present invention provides a process for the preparation of phosphor aerogel of uniform size having high porosity, low density; high thermal insulation and high luminescence, which is useful for various applications like lighting, display, sensing and other applications.

More specifically, the present invention provides a simple and versatile process for the formation of monolithic gel, at room temperature, which on further drying at supercritical temperature and pressure result in dry aerogel. Further, annealing under mild reduced atmosphere from 1000°-1400° C. not only retains the porous network with uniform size particles but also crystallizes to form a phosphor aerogel having brightest luminescence with bulk density as low as 100 kg m-3, and strong enough to support a weight much higher than its own weight.

Provided are a method for preparing a hydrophobic silica aerogel by the combined use of a first surface modifier and a second surface modifier, and a hydrophobic silica aerogel prepared by using the method. A hydrophobic silica aerogel having excellent physical properties and pore characteristics as well as a high degree of hydrophobicity may be prepared with high efficiency by the preparation method according to the present invention.

The present invention provides a method for producing an aerogel, comprising a sol generating step of generating, by hydrolyzing a silane oligomer, a sol containing a hydrolysis product of the silane oligomer; a wet gel generating step of obtaining a wet gel by gelation of the sol; and a drying step of drying the wet gel to obtain an aerogel, wherein a proportion of silicon atoms each bonded to three oxygen atoms in a total number of silicon atoms contained in the silane oligomer is 50% or more.

Silica aerogels with improved properties are disclosed together with methods for synthesizing such aerogels. The improved properties include lower thermal conductivity (better insulating capacity), lower acoustic velocity, lower dielectric constant and improved ductility. Greater tunability of the refractive index can also be achieved. The silica aerogels are prepared by a sol-gel processing method that provides better control of the formation or aerogel structures. Generally speaking, the improvements arise from control of the synthesis to create a morphology of primary clusters and diverse-sized secondary clusters of dense silica aerogels separated by less densely packed regions. By providing a broader range of secondary clusters and/or pore sizes and loose connectivity between clusters, reductions can be achieved in thermal conductivity and flexural modulus.

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing an aerogel blanket. The method includes preparing a wet gel blanket including an organic solvent, introducing the wet gel blanket into a supercritical extraction device, and drying the wet gel blanket using supercritical carbon dioxide, decompressing the pressure of the supercritical extraction device, and supplying gaseous carbon dioxide to the decompressed supercritical extraction device to dry the wet gel blanket.