The invention provides a method for producing a heat insulating material composed of a hydrophobic aerogel, and the method includes the steps of: (1) mixing step; (2) hydrolysis step; (3) condensation step; (4) aging step; and (5) drying step. In the method, a siloxane compound, an inorganic gel, and a halogen-free surfactant are mixed and then a sol-gel process is performed to produce the aerogel heat-insulating material without water-washing. The produced heat-insulating material has preferable strength, smooth appearance, and low shrinkage and can overcome the powder-dropping problem. By the provided method, an aerogel heat-insulating board can be produced, or an aerogel cold-resisting and heat-insulating blanket can be produced by mixing with a fiber or a foam material.

Provided is a silica aerogel blanket capable of preventing deterioration of heat insulating performance while reducing dust generation, and method for manufacturing the same. The method manufactures a low-dust silica aerogel blanket by separately adding a silica sol to prevent an opacifying agent from being exposed to the surface of the silica aerogel blanket.

Provided is a method for recycling supercritical waste liquid generated during a process of producing a silica aerogel blanket, and a method for producing a silica aerogel blanket reusing supercritical waste liquid recycled thereby. The method for recycling supercritical waste liquid and the method for producing a silica aerogel blanket reduce the production costs and prevent the deterioration in thermal insulation performance of a silica aerogel blanket by adding a metal salt to the supercritical waste liquid by the recycling method.

Provided is a hydrophobic silica aerogel precursor, and a hydrophobic silica aerogel produced using the same. In the methods, a linear silane crosslinking agent containing a PEG-derived unit is introduced when preparing a hydrophobic aerogel precursor, resulting in the production of a hydrophobic silica aerogel having improved high-temperature thermal stability and improved physical properties.

Provided is a method of manufacturing a silica aerogel blanket, and an apparatus for manufacturing a silica aerogel blanket used in the method. The method includes: (1) drying a silica hydrogel through a supercritical drying process using a supercritical extractor; (2) separating an extract discharged from the supercritical extractor into a gaseous phase including CO.sub.2 and a liquid phase including a solvent through a separator to discharge the gaseous phase and the liquid phase; and (3) condensing the gaseous phase including CO.sub.2 discharged from the separator in a condenser, wherein the separation in the separator is performed under the condition of a pressure of 60 bar to 90 bar, and the gaseous phase including CO.sub.2 discharged from the separator is condensed in the condenser so that the gaseous phase has a temperature of 10° C. or higher and a pressure of 60 bar to 90 bar.

The invention relates to a method for producing an aerogel under increased pressure, to the aerogel obtained using said method and to their use.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing ultra-pure silicon carbide in which a super-porous spherical silica aerogel is used as a silica raw material. By preparing the silica aerogel particles using low-cost water glass, a reaction area with respect to a carbon raw material is increased to enable low-temperature synthesis of silicon carbide, the size and shape of silicon carbide powder may be uniformly controlled to prepare ultra-pure silicon carbide, and economic efficiency and productivity of the silicon carbide synthesis may be improved. Thus, it is expected that the silicon carbide powder prepared by the preparation method of the present invention may be provided as an optimized raw material for the preparation of silicon carbide sintered body and single crystal (ingot).

A process of preparing a polydopamine aerogel comprising first mixing together a silica precursor and an amine-functionalized silica precursor in a solvent to form a first solution. Then, adding an acid catalyst to the first solution to form a silica gel. Then, equilibrating the silica gel in a 50/50 solvent/water mixture. Wherein the final step in the process is to add about 1 mg/ml solution of a dopamine monomer to the silica gel to form a polydopamine aerogel.

Described herein are window retrofits including a monolithic silica aerogel slab having (i) an average haze value of <5% as calculated in accordance with ASTM standard D1003-13 and (ii) a U-factor of <0.5 BTU/sf/hr/° F., and a transparent polymer envelope sealed at an internal pressure of ≤1 atmosphere, wherein the monolithic silica aerogel slab is encapsulated in the transparent polymer envelope. The monolithic aerogel slab can have a transmittance >94% at 8 mm thickness. The window retrofit can be bonded to a glass sheet.

A method for producing an aerogel composite includes drying a wet gel generated from a sol comprising a silica particles, and at least one selected from the group consisting of a silicon compound having a hydrolyzable functional group in a molecule, and a hydrolysis product of the silicon compound.