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Versatile Aerogel Fabrication by Freezing and Subsequent Freeze‐Drying of Colloidal Nanoparticle Solutions
Author(s) -
Freytag Axel,
SánchezParadinas Sara,
Naskar Suraj,
Wendt Natalja,
Colombo Massimo,
Pugliese Giammarino,
Poppe Jan,
Demirci Cansunur,
Kretschmer Imme,
Bahnemann Detlef W.,
Behrens Peter,
Bigall Nadja C.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201508972
Subject(s) - aerogel , materials science , fabrication , colloid , nanoparticle , nanotechnology , homogeneous , chemical engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , engineering , thermodynamics
A versatile method to fabricate self‐supported aerogels of nanoparticle (NP) building blocks is presented. This approach is based on freezing colloidal NPs and subsequent freeze drying. This means that the colloidal NPs are directly transferred into dry aerogel‐like monolithic superstructures without previous lyogelation as would be the case for conventional aerogel and cryogel fabrication methods. The assembly process, based on a physical concept, is highly versatile: cryogelation is applicable for noble metal, metal oxide, and semiconductor NPs, and no impact of the surface chemistry or NP shape on the resulting morphology is observed. Under optimized conditions the shape and volume of the liquid equal those of the resulting aerogels. Also, we show that thin and homogeneous films of the material can be obtained. Furthermore, the physical properties of the aerogels are discussed.