Study of the influence of various solvents on the properties of hydrophobic silica xerogels

Silica aerogels are low-density inorganic aerogels with a three-dimensional nanoporous structure. Due to the inherent properties of nanoporous materials, the possibility of using silica airgel is of great interest in various fields. To simplify the process and reduce costs, the use of atmospheric pressure drying (APD) is promising, the resulting materials are called xerogels. Silica xerogels based on methyltrimethoxysilane were synthesized using various alcohol solvents. The optimal combination of properties is possessed by a sample obtained using methanol as a solvent. The wetting angle of all xerogels was 158°, which characterizes the resulting material as superhydrophobic.