Synthesis of aerogel usage of sand by ultrasonically assisted sol-gel method, characterization and thermal insulation plaster application

Abstract

Excessive energy consumption, environmental pollution and global warming, which arise due to increasing population density, pose a threat to the whole world. These changes attract the attention of researchers all over the world and are among the topics that are studied in many academic researches. Thermal insulation of buildings has been explored and developed for many years. Highly featured insulation materials which developed by using advanced technologies in recent years, have taken the place of traditional insulation materials that have been in use for many years and create a commercial market. In this study, ultrasonic assisted sol-gel method was used to synthesize hydrophobic aerogel by using sand which is a cheap and easily accessible material. The modification process of aerogel was carried out during production and all drying processes were completed at ambient pressure without the use of supercritical pressure. The effect of various production parameters on the aerogel density was investigated and the conditions under the lowest density material was synthesized were determined as the optimum conditions. The physical properties of the produced material were determined by FT-IR, contact angle and density measurements. XRD, TG / DTG, N2 adsorption / desorption and SEM analyzes were performed for the optimum sample with the lowest density. Optimum sample was characterized and evaluated for the production of plaster with thermal insulation properties.