Preparation and Structural Characterization of SiO2-ZrO2 Aerogels
Low density SiO2-xZrO2 aerogels with x=35wt%, 65wt%, 75wt%, 90wt%, 95wt% were prepared by CO2 supercritical drying technique with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and zirconyl nitrate dihydrate (ZrO(NO3)2 .2H2O) by hydrolytic polycondensation under different chemical conditions. The prepared aerogels are performed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and BET surface areas to characterize and analyze the morphology and pore structure of SiO2-ZrO2 aerogels. The results showed that the SiO2-ZrO2 areogels are the typical of nano mesopores and the average pore size is about 50 nm. The specific surface areas varied from 345.5 to 615.5 m2/g with (SBET)MAX = 615.5 m2/g with 20wt% Zirconia; Moreover a mass of Si-O-Zr bands formed in the aerogels and the formation mechanism of Si-O-Zr bands are also discussed.