Eco-Friendly Fabrication of Highly Stable Silica Aerogel Microspheres with Core–Shell Structure

Silica aerogel microspheres show great potential in various fields as fillings in different materials. It is important to diversify and optimize the fabrication methodology for silica aerogel microspheres (SAMS). This paper presents an eco-friendly synthetic technique for producing functional silica aerogel microspheres with a core-shell structure. Mixing silica sol with commercial silicone oil containing olefin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) resulted in a homogeneous emulsion with silica sol droplets dispersed in the oil. After gelation, the droplets were transformed into silica hydrogel or alcogel microspheres and coated with the polymerization of the olefin groups. Microspheres with silica aerogel as their core and polydimethylsiloxane as their shell were obtained after separation and drying. The sphere size distribution was regulated by controlling the emulsion process. The surface hydrophobicity was enhanced by grafting methyl groups onto the shell. The obtained silica aerogel microspheres have low thermal conductivity, high hydrophobicity, and excellent stability. The synthetic technique reported here is expected to be beneficial for the development of highly robust silica aerogel material.