AEROGEL PARTICLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME

Abstract

An aerogel particle is produced by following processes. A mixing process: an alkoxysilane compound is mixed with an organic solvent to form a first mixed solution. A hydrolysis process: an acid catalyst is added into the first mixed solution to perform a hydrolysis reaction, thereby obtaining a sol. A condensation process: an alkali catalyst is added into the sol to perform a condensation reaction, and a hydrophobic dispersion solvent is added and stirred during the condensation process, thereby subjecting sol to be gelled when it is stirred, further producing the aerogel particle with a uniform structure.

Claims

1. A method of producing an aerogel particle, comprising: performing a mixing process, wherein an alkoxysilane compound is mixed with an organic solvent to form a first mixed solution; performing a hydrolysis process to the first mixed solution, wherein an acid catalyst is added into the first mixed solution to perform a hydrolysis reaction, thereby forming a sol; and performing a condensation process to the sol, wherein an alkali catalyst is added into the sol to perform a condensation reaction, and a hydrophobic dispersion solvent is added and stirred during the condensation process, thereby subjecting the sol to be gelled when it is stirred, further producing a second mixed solution including the aerogel particle with a hydrophilic functional group on a surface, such that the aerogel particle is a hydrophilic aerogel particle.

2. The method of producing an aerogel particle of claim 1, wherein the first mixed solution comprises 2.1 mol % to 12.5 mol % of the alkoxysilane compound and 87.5 mol % to 97.9 mol % of the organic solvent.

3. The method of producing an aerogel particle of claim 1, wherein a ratio of an amount of the alkoxysilane to an amount of the acid catalyst is 1:0.3 to 1:0.001.

4. The method of producing an aerogel particle of claim 1, wherein a molar ratio of a mole of the alkali catalyst to a mole of the acid catalyst is 1.0:1.0 to 3.0:1.0.

5. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 1, wherein the sol is stirred at 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm when the condensation process is performed.

6. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 1, wherein the hydrophilic aerogel particle has a uniformly pearl-like structure or a uniformly ball-like structure.

7. The method of producing an aerogel particle of claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic dispersion solvent is selected from a group consisting of ketone, ether, ester, aromatic and alkane.

8. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 7, wherein the sol is stirred at 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm when the condensation process is performed.

9. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 7, after the condensation process is performed, the method further comprises: performing a post-treatment process to the second mixed solution, wherein the hydrophilic aerogel particle is filtered out by a filter and washed by a mixed solution including ethanol and water, and then the hydrophilic aerogel particle is dried at 100 C. to 115 C. in vacuum.

10. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 9, wherein the sol is stirred at 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm when the condensation process is performed.

11. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 7, after the condensation process is performed, the method further comprises: performing a hydrophobic modified process to the second mixed solution to produce a hydrophobic aerogel particle, wherein the second mixed solution is heated to evaporate the organic solvent, and a chloryl organic molecule is added to subject the chloryl organic molecule to react with the hydrophilic functional group of the aerogel particle, thereby subjecting the aerogel particle to be hydrophobic, further preventing the hydrophobic aerogel particle from being broken by the hydrophobic solvent.

12. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 11, wherein the sol is stirred at 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm when the condensation process is performed.

13. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 11, wherein the chloryl organic molecule is selected from a group consisting of chloryl alkoxysilane, chloryl alkane and chloryl phene.

14. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 11, the organic solvent includes a mixture of ethanol and water; a temperature of the second mixed solution is sequentially varied to a first temperature, a second temperature and a third temperature, wherein the first temperature is 78 C. to 82 C., the second temperature is 100 C. to 115 C., the third temperature is 40 C. to 45 C., and when the temperature of the second mixed solution is varied to the third temperature, the chloryl organic molecule is added.

15. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 14, wherein the sol is stirred at 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm when the condensation process is performed.

16. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 11, after the hydrophobic modified process is performed, the method further comprises: performing a post-treatment process, wherein the hydrophobic aerogel particle is filtered out by a filter and washed by toluene, and then the hydrophobic aerogel particle is dried in vacuum.

17. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 16, wherein the sol is stirred at 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm when the condensation process is performed.

18. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 11, wherein the hydrophobic aerogel particle is a core-shell particle.

19. The method of producing the aerogel particle of claim 18, wherein the core-shell particle has a porous closed-shell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:

[0025] FIG. 1 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a flow chart with the modified process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a scanning electron microscope picture of the aerogel particle of the present invention when the stirring velocity is 1200 rpm.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a scanning electron microscope picture of the aerogel particle of the present invention when the stirring velocity is 1800 rpm.

[0029] FIG. 5 is a transmission electron microscopy picture of the closed-shell aerogel particle of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 6 is a scale-up picture of the transmission electron microscopy of the closed-shell aerogel particle of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 7 is an absorbed curve diagram and a desorbed curve diagram of the aerogel particle without subjecting to the hydrophobic modified process in nitrogen gas.

[0032] FIG. 8 is a pore distribution diagram of the aerogel particle according to FIG. 7.

[0033] FIG. 9 is scanning electron microscope picture of a commercial aerogel powder under a scaling factor 500.

[0034] FIG. 10 is scanning electron microscope picture of a commercial aerogel powder under a scaling factor 1,000.

[0035] FIG. 11 is scanning electron microscope picture of a commercial aerogel powder under a scaling factor 5,000.

[0036] FIG. 12 is scanning electron microscope picture of a commercial aerogel powder under a scaling factor 10,000.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] According to the aforementioned features, the effects of the aerogel particle and the method of producing the same can be clearly showed by following embodiments.

[0038] Please refer to FIG. 1, which discloses the method of producing the aerogel particle according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method comprises following processes: a mixing process (S1), a hydrolysis process (S2), a condensation process (S3) and a post-treatment process (S4).

[0039] The mixing process (S1): an alkoxysilane compound is mixed with an organic solvent to form a first mixed solution. The alkoxysilane can be tetramethoxysilane (TMOS), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), or a precursor of methyl silicate or the like. An amount of the alkoxysilane or the precursor of methyl silicate is 2.1 mol % to 12.5 mol %, and an amount of the organic solvent is 97.9 mol % to 87.5 mol %.

[0040] The hydrolysis process (S2): an acid catalyst is added into the first mixed solution to perform a hydrolysis reaction, thereby forming a sol. A ratio of an amount of the alkoxysilane to an amount of the acid catalyst is 1:0.3 to 1:0.001.

[0041] Besides, the ratio of the amount of the alkoxysilane to the amount of the acid catalyst is 1:0.001 to 1:0.3. When the ratio of the amount of the alkoxysilane to the amount of the acid catalyst is 1:0.001, the processing time of the hydrolysis reaction is 300 minutes. When the ratio of the amount of the alkoxysilane to the amount of the acid catalyst is 1:0.3, the processing time of the hydrolysis reaction is 10 minutes. Accordingly, the processing time of the hydrolysis reaction decreases as increasing of the amount of the acid catalyst.

[0042] The condensation process (S3): an alkali catalyst is added into the sol to perform a condensation reaction. A molar ratio of a mole of a mixed solution including the acid catalyst and the ethanol to a mole of a mixed solution including the alkali catalyst and the ethanol is 10:10 to 10:40. A molar ratio of a mole of the alkali catalyst to a mole of the acid catalyst is 1.0:1.0 to 3.0:1.0.

[0043] In the mixed solution including the alkali catalyst and the ethanol, a condensation reaction time (i.e. a gelling time of the aerogel) is distinctly decreased as increasing the amount of the alkali catalyst. When the molar ratio of the mole of the alkali catalyst to the mole of the acid catalyst is 1.0:1.0, the gelling time essentially is 1600 minutes. When the molar ratio of the mole of the alkali catalyst to the mole of the acid catalyst is 3.0:1.0, the gelling time is decreased to 5 minutes. Therefore, the processing time can be adjusted by controlling the molar ratio of the mole of the alkali catalyst to the mole of the acid catalyst.

[0044] When the condensation reaction of the condensation process (S3) approximately complete, the first mixed solution that has been subjected to the hydrolysis reaction (i.e. a mixed solution after hydrolysis) is formed to a sol. When the mixed solution after hydrolysis is controlled to a sol, a large amount of the non-dissolved hydrophobic dispersion solvent is added into the sol to form a second mixed solution, and the second mixed solution is stirred at 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm. Accordingly, the sol is gelled, thereby forming a pearl structure or ball structure aerogel particle due to a repulsion of the hydrophobic dispersion solvent under a fast stirring. A particle size of the aerogel particle essentially is 300 nm to 900 nm.

[0045] The aforementioned hydrophobic dispersion solvent can be ketone of 6 to 16 carbons, ether of 6 to 16 carbons, ester of 6 to 16 carbons, aromatic of 7 to 16 carbons, alkane of 8 to 20 carbons, halogenated ether, halogenated ester, halogenated aromatic, halogenated alkane and the like. For example, the hydrophobic dispersion solvent can be toluene, kerosene, cleaning naphtha or the like.

[0046] The post-treatment process (S4): the aerogel particle is filtered out by a filter, and the aerogel particle is washed by a mixed solution including ethanol and water for 3 to 4 times. Then, the aerogel particle is dried at 110 C. to 115 C. in vacuum, thereby obtaining the aerogel particle.

[0047] Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a flow chart with the modified process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Preferably, the aforementioned aerogel particle can further be subjected to a hydrophobic modified process. After the condensation process (S4) is performed, the method can further comprise a hydrophobic modified process (S5) subjected to the second mixed solution. A temperature of the second mixed solution is sequentially varied to a first temperature, a second temperature and a third temperature. The first temperature is 78 C. to 82 C., thereby evaporating the ethanol in the second mixed solution (a boiling point of the ethanol is 78 C.). The second temperature is 100 C. to 115 C. (a boiling point of the water is 100 C.), thereby evaporating the water in the second mixed solution. The third temperature is 40 C. to 45 C.

[0048] When the temperature of the second mixed solution is varied to the third temperature, a chloryl organic molecule is added. The chloryl organic molecule is selected from a group consisting of chloryl alkoxysilane, chloryl alkane, chloryl phene or a combination thereof.

[0049] Accordingly, the chloryl organic molecule is subjected to react with a hydroxyl group of the aforementioned aerogel particle, thereby subjecting the aerogel particle to be hydrophobic. Moreover, the repulsion between the hydrophobic dispersion solvent and the aerogel particle can prevent the aforementioned aerogel particle from being broken. If the aerogel particle is subjected to the hydrophobic modified process (S5), the aerogel particle is washed by toluene in the post-treatment process (S40) to remove the chloryl organic molecule. And then, the washed aerogel particle is dried in vacuum.

[0050] Therefore, the method of the present invention can produce the uniform sub-micro porous aerogel particle with ball structure. On one hand, the method of the present invention can enhance the homogeneity of the appearances and the structure of the aerogel particle, thereby increasing the applicability. On the other hand, the present method can produce the hydrophobic modified aerogel particle by evaporating with heating and adding the chloryl organic molecule, thereby being easily to be produced with a large amount, further thereby enlarging the applied scope.

[0051] Please refer to the following Table 1, which shows a comparison of the aerogel particle according to an embodiment of the present invention between before-modification and after-modification by a surface area and porosimetric analyzer (BET):

TABLE-US-00001 Table 1 S.sub.BET V.sub.pore D.sub.p S.sub.micro V.sub.micro Sample (m.sup.2/g) (cm.sup.3/g) (nm) (m.sup.2/g) (cm.sup.3/g) Aerogel Particle 531 2.67 18.92 51 0.017 (Before-Modification) Aerogel Particle 784 3.42 16.28 42 0.021 (After-Modification)

[0052] In Table 1, S.sub.BET represents a specific surface area measured by BET; V.sub.pore represents a volume of the pore measured by BET; D.sub.p represents a diameter of the pore measured by BET; S.sub.micro represents a specific surface area of the micro pore; and V.sub.micro represents a volume of the micro pore.

[0053] In Table 1, per unit weight of the before-modification and after-modification aerogel particle are respectively measured by the BET. When the BET is vacuumed until P/Po is equal to 0, a nitrogen gas is introduced after the solvent or an absorbed impurity in the aerogel particle is removed. When the aerogel particle absorbs the nitrogen gas until P/Po is equal to 1, the nitrogen gas is vacuumed to subject the aerogel particle with saturated nitrogen gas to be desorbed until P/Po is equal to 0. In the absorbed process and the desorbed process, the absorbed curve and the desorbed curve are measured and analyzed, thereby obtaining the relative result of the specific surface area.

[0054] Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, which are microscope pictures of the appearances and the structure of the aerogel particle by scanning electron microscope in different scale. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show the structure of the aerogel particle has uniform and high homogeneity ball structure.

[0055] Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, which are microscope pictures of the inner structure and the pore distribution of the aerogel particle by scanning electron microscope in different scale. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show the aerogel particle is aggregated to form a nano-scale aerogel structure.

[0056] Please refer to FIG. 7, which shows an absorbed curve diagram and a desorbed curve diagram of the aerogel particle without subjecting to the hydrophobic modified process in nitrogen gas. Please refer to FIG. 8, which shows a pore distribution diagram converted from the absorbed curve diagram and the desorbed curve diagram of the aerogel particle without subjecting to the hydrophobic modified process.

[0057] As is understood by a person skilled in the art, the foregoing preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structure.