With the worsening of the oil-product pollution problem, oil-water separation has attracted increased attention in recent years. In this study, a porous three-dimensional (3D) carbon aerogel based on cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by a facile and green approach. The resulting CNF/PVA/GO aerogels were synthesized through an environm...

Aerogels have much potential in both research and industrial applications due to their high surface area, low density, and fine pore size distribution. Here we report a thorough structural study of three-dimensional aerogels composed of highly crystalline sp(2)-bonded boron nitride (BN) layers synthesized by a carbothermic reduction process. The structure, crystallinity and bonding of the as-pr...

To identify π and K in the region of 1.0 ∼ 2.5 GeV/c, a threshold Cherenkov counter equipped with silica aerogels has been investigated. Silica aerogels with a low refractive index of 1.013 have been successfully produced using a new technique. By making use of these aerogels as radiators, we have constructed a Cherenkov counter and have checked its properties in a test beam. The obtained resul...

Silica aerogels display exceptional properties and great application potential, with a mature market in thermal insulation. Both supercritical drying (SCD) ambient pressure (APD) routes are implemented industrially. Herein, how aging silica content affect the mechanical properties, these turn determine shrinkage, spring back, density during APD systematically investigated. The densities U-shape...

We present carbon nanotube (CNT)-bonded graphene hybrid aerogels that are prepared by growing CNTs on a graphene aerogel surface with nickel catalyst. The presence of bonded CNTs in the graphene aerogel results in vastly improved mechanical and electrical properties. A significant increase in specific surface area is also realized. The presence of the CNTs transforms the hybrid aerogels into a ...

Superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning require a combination of surface topography and low-energy surfaces, where mechanical damage of the topography or contamination with oils lead to loss of the nonwetting properties. We show that such vulnerability can be solved by superamphiphobic (i.e., both superhydrophobic and superoleophobic) surfactant-coated aerogel surfaces. Using silica aerogels as m...

Hybrid aerogels consisting of cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and modified few-walled carbon nanotubes (FWCNT) are investigated under cyclic mechanical compression to explore "electrical fatigue". For this purpose the FWCNTs were hydrophilized, thus promoting their aqueous dispersibility to allow FWCNT/CNF hybrid hydrogels, followed by freeze-drying to obtain hybrid aerogels. The optimized compositi...

Developing a synthetic methodology for the fabrication of hierarchically porous metal-organic monoliths that feature high surface area, low density and tunable porosity is imperative for mass transfer applications, including bulky molecule capture, heterogeneous catalysis and drug delivery. Here we report a versatile and facile synthetic route towards ultralight micro/mesoporous metal-organic a...

This paper reports on the density of silica aerogels after lowand high-temperature supercritical drying as well as on the corresponding optical refractive index. The influence of adsorbed water or methanol has also been investigated. Aerogel samples are prepared via soI3el process of pH 11 and pH 13 tetramethoxysilanehnethanolfwater solutions using ammonia as catalyst. After high-temperature dr...

The synthesis, characterization, self-assembly, and gel formation of poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) (PBLG) in a molecular weight range from ca. 7,000-100,000 g/mol and with narrow molecular weight distribution are described. The PBLG is synthesized by the nickel-mediated ring-opening polymerization and is characterized by size-exclusion chromatography coupled with multiple-angle laser light scatter...