Effects of Preparation Conditions on Characters of Hydrophobic Silica Granular Aerogel and its Applications

The hydrophobic silica granular aerogels were synthesized via sol-gel synthesis followed by ambient pressure drying. The tetraethyloxylane (TEOS) was used as original precursor. The aerogels were analyzed using nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser particle size analyzer. It was found that the aerogel was mesoporous material with high surface area. The aerogels were prepared in grain form by dipping into disperse solution in order to adsorption application. The average particle size of the aerogel was controlled by pH and disperse solution volume. The pH also affected gel time. The aerogels were used to absorb phenol from water. The saturated adsorption amount could reach up to 145 mg•g-1.