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Estimation of the Surface Free Energy of Hydrophobic Monolithic Silica Aerogels
Author(s) -
Kavale Mahendra S.,
Karande Subhash S.,
Pushpanjali Gurubasappa M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.202000113
Subject(s) - aerogel , materials science , contact angle , surface energy , thermal conductivity , conductivity , refractive index , sessile drop technique , composite material , chemical engineering , drop (telecommunication) , thermal , surface (topology) , optoelectronics , chemistry , thermodynamics , geometry , telecommunications , physics , mathematics , computer science , engineering
Aerogels are prepared by quantifying the sol–gel process of the organo‐metallic precursors. The objective of the present article is to synthesize ultralow density, low index of refraction, and monolithic silica aerogels. The quantification of hydrophobicity of the silica aerogels using water drop contact angle is not only crucial but also the estimation of the surface free energy is an important parameter to understand the interfacial behavior of the aerogel surface and liquid. To provide insight on this behavior, calculation of the surface free energy is done by using Neumann's equation of state. These synthesized aerogels emerged with ultralow density 24 kg m −3 and low thermal conductivity ∼0.091 W m −1 K −1 .