Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi

2016-2017

Seminar Report
On
APPLICATIONS OF AEROGEL - A SOLID POROUS
MATERIAL

Seminar carried out by

SHABUDDIN N
USN :- 4SF14ME422
Under the guidance of

Mr. Prasadchandran
Assistant professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
SCEM, Mangalore
 SAHYADRI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
SAHYADRI CAMPUS, ADYAR, MANGALORE-575007

SAHYADRI
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
SAHYADRI CAMPUS, ADYAR, MANGALORE-575007

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Shabuddin N bearing USN 4SF14ME422 satisfactorily
completed the seminar on Application of Aerogel a Solid Porous Material As
th
prescribed by the VTU for 8 Semester B.E in Mechanical Engineering Course for
the Academic Year 2016-2017

Internal Assessment Marks:..

Signature of Seminar Guide Signature of the Staff in Charge

DATE:
PLACE:

HOD Principal
 ABSTRACT
Aerogel is defined as a group of extremely light and porous solid
materials. Silica-based aerogels are among the lightest ones and it can be less
than four times as dense as dry air, and some are nearly transparent, hence its
nickname is solid smoke or frozen smoke.

Since this definition is good for most porous materials, the term aerogels
became reserved for the porous gels obtained by removing solvent from highly
swollen gels at the conditions that no or minimal collapse occurs, which causes the
liquid in the gel to become supercritical, which is a state between a liquid and a gas
and lose its surface tension. The result is an open porous material with a backbone
morphology that can be modeled in terms of three dimensionally interconnected
strings of nanoscopic pearls. The length scale of both the pearls as well as the
interconnected voids can be independently tailored over a wide range, i.e. from a
few nanometers to several microns.One of the striking advantages of aerogels
compared to other porous materials is that both porosity and inner surface area can
be tuned independently. Porosities of up to 99.9 % are achievable; when
microporosity is present, the specific surface area can exceed 1500 m2/g. Because
of their unique properties, i.e., large surface area, very small pores and very low
bulk density, aerogels are potentially important candidates for a wide range of
applications.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I sincerely like to thank Mr. Prasadchandran my seminar guide for his valuable
suggestions and encouragement in carrying out this seminar.

My special thanks to our seminar co-ordinator, Mr. Ravichandra. K. R. Associative

Professor, for his kind co-operation to the completion of the seminar work.

I am very grateful to Prof. Mahesh. B. Davanageri, HOD Mechanical Engineering

Department SCEM, Mangalore for giving support to do this seminar.

I also wish my gratitude to staff members of Mechanical Department who rendered me

their help during the period of my seminar work.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. U. M. Bhushi, Principal of Sahyadri College

of Engineering and Management, Mangalore.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. D. L. Prabhakara Director of Sahyadri

College of Engineering and Management, Mangalore, and Dr. Manjunath Bhandary, Chairman of
Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangalore. For providing me an opportunity
to Study in this college.

- SHABUDDIN N
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1

1.1 History 1

CHAPTER 2 Types of Aerogel 3

CHAPTER 3 Manufacturing of Aerogel 5

3.1 Catalysts 10

3.2 Two Step Aerogel 11

CHAPTER 4 Properties of Aerogel 12

4.1 World records held by Aerogel 13

CHAPTER 5 Products of Aerogel and its 14

Application

CHAPTER 6 Future work and Conclusion 16

Reference 17

LIST OF FIGURES
 PAGE NO

Figure 1: SILICA AEROGEL 3

Figure 2: CARBON AEROGEL 4

Figure 3: METAL OXIDE AEROGEL 4

Figure 4: SCHEME OF SILICA AEROGEL SOL-GEL SYNTHESIS BY

CONDENSATION OF SILICA ALKOXIDE PRECURSOR
ON ALCOHOLS 5

Figure 5: SCHEME OF THE PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE

VARIATION ON THE SOLVENT PHASE DIAGRAM
DURING A GEL SUPERCRITICAL DRYING PROCESS 9

Figure 6: THE LIQUID-VAPOR INTERFACE FORMED IN THE GEL

CAPILLARY DURING DRYING 10