Document Type
Grant
Publication Date
9-1-2023
Department
Chemistry
Abstract
Aerogels have been rising to the surface as a material of interest for many practical applications. Aerogels are classified as “dried gels with a very high relative pore volume”.1 Aerogels are typically created through supercritical drying, in which the liquid in a sol-gel is turned into gas without destroying the structure of the gel. The purpose of this research experiment is to create a undergraduate student laboratory for CHEM411 Materials and Synthesis of Characterization in which the students will create polyvinylpoly[1]methylsiloxane (PVPMS) aerogels from vinylmethyldimethyoxysilane (VMDMS) using a new method that has been created using ambient pressure drying rather than supercritical drying.7,8 This experiment was successful in created the PVMDMS polymer from VMDMS, and successful in creating the PVPMS hydrogel from the PVMDMS. However, the experiment was unsuccessful in drying the hydrogel into its aerogel form.
First Advisor
Kopitzke, Robert
