A method for making inorganic mineral hydrogels is provided. In one aspect, a first solution including one or more metal cations from one or more inorganic precursors is used. The metal cations are one or more of Fe, Mg, Ca, Co, Ni, Zn, Ti, Cu, Sn, or Mn. A second solution includes one or more polyoxometalates of Mo, W, V, Nb, or Ta. The first and second solutions are mixed together to form the inorganic mineral hydrogel. In one example, an aqueous solution of ferric chloride hexahydrate (FeCl.sub.3.Math.6H.sub.2O) is mixed with an aqueous solution of ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate ((NH.sub.4).sub.6Mo.sub.7O.sub.24.Math.4H.sub.2O), under ambient conditions. The two reactants first form a yellow precipitate (FeMo.sub.2O.sub.x(OH).sub.y), which subsequently dissolves back into the solution to gradually produce a viscous hydrogel that traps a large volume of water.

In an aspect, a method for making a metal-containing material comprises steps of: forming a metal-containing hydrogel from an aqueous precursor mixture using a photopolymerization; wherein the aqueous precursor mixture comprises water, one or more aqueous photosensitive binders, and one or more aqueous metal salts; and thermally treating the metal-containing hydrogel to form the metal-containing material; wherein the metal-containing hydrogel is exposed to a thermal-treatment atmosphere during the step of thermally treating; wherein a composition of the metal-containing material is at least partially determined by a composition of the thermal-treatment atmosphere during the thermally treating step.

Provided herein is a method of forming a bicontinuous intraphase jammed emulsion gel.

Provided herein is a method of preparing a ceramic material, the method including: providing a ceramic gel including a plurality of metal salts and compressing the ceramic gel thereby inducing stress-induced mineralization of the ceramic gel and formation of the ceramic material, wherein the ceramic gel exists in isolated form.

In a method for generating a chlorine dioxide gas, the chlorine dioxide gas is continuously generated from a gel composition obtained by adding a gelling activator containing a gas generating agent, a gas generation controlling agent containing a carbonate and hydrogen peroxide, a gas generation adjusting agent, and a water-absorbent resin to a chlorite aqueous solution. This provides a method for generating a chlorine dioxide gas, a kit for generating a chlorine dioxide gas, and a gel composition which suppress the initial rapid generation of the chlorine dioxide gas and stably hold the generation of the chlorine dioxide gas for an extremely long time.

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.

A method for producing a composite glue composed of an aerogel, an inorganic fiber, and an inorganic adhesive includes the following steps of: (1) mixing step, (2) hydrolysis step, (3) condensation step, (4) aging step, (5) high-temperature solvent replacement step, (6) evaporation and drying step, and (7) composition step. The obtained product thereof is a viscous composite glue composed of the aerogel, and the total content of the aerogel and an inorganic fiber is of 25-90 wt % after dried. Additionally, the obtained product can be used at a high temperature of more than 600° C., and has no phenomena of inorganic material decomposition and carcinogen production.

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 disclosure relates to a method for preparing a restructured hydrogel, including forming a hydrogel containing a first polymer, unidirectionally shrinking and dehydrating the hydrogel, and additionally cross-linking and rehydrating the dehydrated hydrogel.

Methods include producing a gelled sanitizer composition, including preparing a hydrating fluid composition including water and one or more of alcohol and peroxide; preparing a hydratable additive; and combining the hydrating fluid composition and the hydratable additive to produce a gelled composition. Methods also include flowing a hydrating liquid composition in an extensional flow regime through an elongated passageway of an extender, wherein the hydrating liquid composition includes water and a C2-C10 solvent, and a flow rate of the hydrating liquid composition and a diameter of the elongated passageway are sufficient to achieve a Reynolds number of 20,000 or greater; and adding a hydratable additive to the hydrating liquid composition in the elongated passageway to produce a mixture comprising the hydratable additive that is at least partially hydrated.