Insight into ultra-flexible & robust silica aerogels based on diene synthesis reaction: Preparation and oil/water separation.

[Display omitted] • Ultra-flexible cloud-like robust silica aerogels were obtained by diene synthesis reaction at atmospheric pressure. • The maximum strain for the sample can be as high as 90% without any structure damage. • The water contact angle of the super hydrophobic can reach up to 156.2°. • The ultra-flexible aerogels have efficient cycle performance, and great prospects in the filtration and adsorption. This paper reported the preparation of ultra-flexible silica aerogels based on diene synthesis reaction at atmospheric pressure. Vinyl trimethoxy silane and vinyl methyl dimethoxy silane as silicon source were used to prepare vinyl aerogels by one-pot acid-base sol–gel route. The diene synthesis reaction was used to prepare ultra-flexible and super hydrophobic silica aerogels on the basis of vinyl aerogels. Maximum strain of the ultra-flexible aerogels is as high as 90 % for 20 compression-decompression cycles. The aerogels can be recovered completely without structure destruction. In addition, the adsorption capacity of the samples is higher than that of the conventional silica aerogels, which can reach to 15.0 g⋅g−1 of dichloromethane. It is worth noting that they also have efficient cycle performance for adsorption and filtration. Acting as core part of filtration, the organic solvents insoluble in water can be easily separated from water by the aerogels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]