A process for the hydrophobization of a porous silica based compound involves the steps of providing a composition (I) containing a porous silica based compound, treating the composition (I) with a composition (II) containing hexamethyldisiloxane or its hydrolyzed form, and removing the treated silica based compound. The porous silica based compound obtained by the process is useful. A porous silica based compound obtained or obtainable by the process can be used for medical and pharmaceutical applications, as adsorbents, for cosmetic applications, as an additive for food, as a catalyst support, for the preparation of sensors, or for thermal insulation.

An aerogel structure body includes a composite layer containing fibrous materials and aerogel, the aerogel being held between the fibrous materials, and an aerogel layer having a first surface on at least one surface of the composite layer and formed of the aerogel, in which the aerogel layer having a second surface opposite to the first surface, the second surface including a projection portion projecting from the second surface, and a density of the aerogel in the projection portion is 0.1% to 3.0% higher than a density of the aerogel in the aerogel layer (flat portion) other than the projection portion. Therefore, the aerogel structure body that is excellent in dimensional stability and heat insulating properties and that can be manufactured with high productivity and a method of manufacturing the same are provided.

The present disclosure can provide aerogel compositions which have a thermal storage capacity, and which are durable and easy to handle. The present disclosure can provide aerogel compositions which include PCM coatings, particle mixtures, or PCM materials confined within the porous network of an aerogel composition. The present disclosure can provide methods for producing aerogel compositions by coating an aerogel composition with PCM materials, by forming particle mixtures with PCM materials, or by confining PCM materials within the porous network of an aerogel composition.

According to one inventive concept, a method for forming an aerogel includes forming a SiO.sub.2 gel, forming a mixture of the SiO.sub.2 gel and a TiCl.sub.4-derived precursor sol, wherein the TiCl.sub.4 sol is comprised of TiCl.sub.4 and a solvent, forming a SiO.sub.2/TiO.sub.2 wet gel, drying the SiO.sub.2/TiO.sub.2 wet gel, and heating the dried SiO.sub.2/TiO.sub.2 gel.

The present invention provides a thermal insulation composition and a preparation method and application. The thermal insulation composition is composed of aerogel material and organic resin; the composite mass ratio of the aerogel material to the organic resin is 5 wt %:95 wt % to 50 wt %:50 wt %; the porosity of the aerogel material is greater than 95%, the pore diameter of the aerogel material is less than or equal to 100 nm, the particle size of each particle of aerogel material is 5 nm to 20 nm, and the organic resin is filled in the pores of the aerogel material. The thermal insulation module component prepared from the thermal insulation composition has mechanical strength and thermal conductivity at room temperature, and if the battery goes into thermal runaway, the material becomes a heat-insulating material, blocking the heat transfer between battery cells, greatly improving the safety performance of the battery.

A method for producing a silica aerogel, the method including preparing a reactant by adding a basic catalyst to a first silica precursor solution, performing primary gelation in which the reactant is stirred to form a gel precursor, introducing a second silica precursor solution to a fiber, and performing a secondary gelation in which the gel precursor is introduced to the fiber to which the second silica precursor solution was introduced to form a silica aerogel.

Provided is a method of preparing a metal oxide-silica composite aerogel and a metal oxide-silica composite aerogel having an excellent weight reduction property prepared by the method. The method comprises adding an acid catalyst to a first water glass solution to prepare an acidic water glass solution (step 1); adding a metal ion solution to the acidic water glass solution to prepare a precursor solution (step 2); and adding a second water glass solution to the precursor solution and performing a gelation reaction (step 3).

A method for preparing an optically transparent, superomniphobic glass composition is described. In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for preparing a glass composition, including heating a borosilicate glass comprising 45-85 wt. % silicon oxide and 10-40 wt. % boron oxide to form a phase-separated glass comprising an interpenetrating network of silicon oxide domains and boron oxide domains. The method includes removing at least a portion of the boron oxide domains from the phase-separated glass and depositing a hydrophobic silane to provide a porous glass having a hydrophobic silane layer disposed on a portion of the surface thereof, a total pore volume of 15-50 vol. %, and an average pore diameter of 20-300 nm. The method includes, within at least a portion of the volume of the porous glass, forming an aerogel precursor, and converting at least a portion of the aerogel precursor to an aerogel.

In one embodiment, a composition of matter includes a crystalline porous structure having a density in a range from about 30 to about 50 mg/cm.sup.3. In another embodiment, a kit includes an amorphous, porous material, an inert pressure medium, a heating source, and a sample chamber configured to withstand an applied pressure of at least about 20 GPa. Other aspects and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken in conjunction with the drawings, illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention.

A production method for an aerogel includes a sol generation step by adding a silicon compound to an aqueous solution containing an acid catalyst and performing hydrolysis, where the silicon compound contains at least a quadri-functional silane compound and a tri-functional silane compound among quadri-functional silane compounds, tri-functional silane compounds, and di-functional silane compounds, the density of the aerogel is 0.15 g/cm.sup.3 or less, for example the silicon compound is a mixture of a quadri-functional silane compound, a tri-functional silane compound, and a di-functional silane compound having portions satisfying 0<Qx<50, 50≤Tx<100, 0≤Dx<30, and Qx+Tx+Dx=100, where Qx, Tx, and Dx represent the mass percentages of the quadri-functional silane compound, the tri-functional silane compound, and the di-functional silane compound, respectively. This provides aerogel having excellent thermal insulating characteristics and a large area.