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Organic and carbon aerogels from the NaOH‐catalyzed polycondensation of resorcinol–furfural and supercritical drying in ethanol
Author(s) -
Wu Dingcai,
Fu Ruowen,
Yu Zhiquan
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.21582
Subject(s) - aerogel , supercritical drying , thermogravimetric analysis , furfural , resorcinol , materials science , mesoporous material , chemical engineering , catalysis , pyrolysis , condensation polymer , adsorption , carbon fibers , supercritical fluid , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , composite number , engineering
Organic aerogels and related carbon aerogels were prepared from the NaOH‐catalyzed polycondensation of resorcinol–furfural (RF) and supercritical drying in ethanol. The effect of the preparation conditions, including the RF concentration, molar ratio of resorcinol (R) to NaOH, and molar ratio of R to furfural, on the gelation time and bulk density was studied. The chemical structure of the organic aerogel was revealed by IR spectroscopy. The pyrolysis process of the organic aerogel was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. According to characterizations of transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption, the organic and carbon aerogels we obtained had a three‐dimensional network that consisted of around 30‐nm particles, which defined numerous mesopores of less than 30 nm. As a result, the aerogels had high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface areas (698–753 m 2 /g) and large mesopore volumes (1.09–1.64 cm 3 /g). X‐ray diffraction characterization indicated that the carbon aerogel was more crystalline than activated carbon but less activated than graphite. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 1429–1435, 2005