Synthetic methods for the preparation of hydrophobic organics aerogels. One
method involves the sol-gel polymerization of 1,3-dimethoxybenzene or
1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene with formaldehyde in non-aqueous solvents. Using a
procedure analogous to the preparation of resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF)
aerogels, this approach generates wet gels that can be dried using either
supercritical solvent extraction to generate the new organic aerogels or
air dried to produce an xerogel. Other methods involve the sol-gel
polymerization of 1,3,5 trihydroxy benzene (phloroglucinol) or 1,3
dihydroxy benzene (resorcinol) and various aldehydes in non-aqueous
solvents. These methods use a procedure analogous to the one-step base and
two-step base/acid catalyzed polycondensation of phloroglucinol and
formaldehyde, but the base catalyst used is triethylamine. These methods
can be applied to a variety of other sol-gel precursors and solvent
systems. These hydrophobic organics aerogels have numerous application
potentials in the field of material absorbers and water-proof insulation.
