Modified hybrid silica aerogels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10295108-B2
Application number	US-201615341186-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2016
Priority date	Nov 30, 2010
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed and claimed herein are hybrid silica aerogels containing non-polymeric, functional organic materials covalently bonded at one or both ends to the silica network of the aerogels through a C—Si bond between a carbon atom of the organic material and a silicon atom of the aerogel network. Methods of their preparation are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aerogel composition comprising a silica-based network and a non-polymeric organic material covalently bonded at one or both ends to the silica-based network through a C—Si bond between a carbon atom of the organic material and a silicon atom of the network, wherein the non-polymeric organic material comprises branched or unbranched alkyl chains of 1 -40 carbon atoms with at least one of OH, NHR, SH, OH-terminated alkoxy, OH-terminated carboxy, and OH-terminated phenolic groups attached to the chain, wherein a heteroatom may optionally be a part of the chain, and wherein R includes a silyl group.

2. The aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the non-polymeric organic material is a reaction product of a glycidyloxyalkyl-trialkoxysilane and an aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilane.

3. The aerogel composition of claim 2 , wherein the glycidoalkyl-trialkoxysilane is 3-glycidopropyl-trialkoxysilane; and the aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilane is 3-aminopropyl trialkoxysilane.

4. The aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the non-polymeric organic material is a reaction product of an alkyldiol diglycidyl ether and aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilanes.

5. The aerogel composition of claim 4 , wherein the alkyldiol diglycidyl ether is butaneldiol diglycidyl ether; and the aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilanes are 3-aminopropyl trialkoxysilanes.

6. The aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a reinforcement material.

7. The aerogel composition of claim 6 , wherein the reinforcement material is a fiber reinforcement material.

8. A method of preparing an aerogel composition comprising the steps of:
a. forming a pre-gel mixture by combining a solvent, at least one partially or fully hydrolyzed tetraalkoxysilane, and at least one trialkoxysilane covalently bonded at one or both ends to a non-polymeric organic material through a C—Si bond between a carbon atom of the organic material and a silicon atom of the silica network, wherein the non-polymeric organic material comprises branched or unbranched alkyl chains of C1-C40 with at least one of OH, NHR, SH, OH-terminated alkoxy, carboxy, phenolic groups are attached to the chain, wherein a heteroatom may optionally be a part of the chain, and wherein R includes a silyl group;
b. allowing the pre-gel mixture to form a gel; and
c. drying the gel to obtain an aerogel.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the non-polymeric organic material is a reaction product of a glycidyloxyalkyl-trialkoxysilane and an aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilane.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the glycidoalkyl-trialkoxysilane is 3-glycidopropyl-trialkoxysilane; and the aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilane is 3-aminopropyl trialkoxysilane.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the non-polymeric organic material is a reaction product of an alkyldiol diglycidyl ether and aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilanes.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the alkyldiol diglycidyl ether is butaneldiol diglycidyl ether; and the aminoalkyl-trialkoxysilanes are 3-aminopropyl trialkoxysilanes.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the tetraalkoxysilane comprises between about 10 and about 75% of hydrolysed siloxane.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of adding a reinforcement material to the pre-gel mixture.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the reinforcement material is a fiber reinforcement material.

16. The method of claim 8 , wherein the gel is dried using a supercritical fluid.

Assignees

• Aspen Aerogels Inc

Inventors

• Rhine Wendell E
• Coutinho Decio
• Deshpande Kiranmayi

Classifications

• C08J9/286

  the liquid phase being a solvent for the monomers but not for the resulting macromolecular composition, i.e. macroporous or macroreticular polymers · CPC title

• C08J2201/0504

  the liquid phase being aqueous · CPC title

• F16L59/028 Primary

  Compositions for or methods of fixing a thermally insulating material · CPC title

• C01B33/1585 Primary

  Dehydration into aerogels · CPC title

• C08J2383/04

  Polysiloxanes · CPC title