Process for the Production of an Aerogel Material

Abstract

A process for the production of an aerogel material comprises the following steps:

• a) preparation of a silicon oxide sol in an alcoholic solvent mixture;
• b) triggering of the gelation of the sol by adding base, whereby a gel is formed, and optionally aging of the gel;
• c) hydrophobicization of the optionally aged gel;
• d) removal of the solvent mixture by subcritical drying, whereby the aerogel material is formed.

The silicon oxide sol formed in step a) comprises at least one acid-catalytically activatable hydrophobicization agent, wherein the volume fraction of the hydrophobicization agent in the sol is 5 to 60%. The hydrophobicization in step c) is induced as a result of release or addition of at least one hydrophobicization catalyst acting in combination with the hydrophobicization agent.

Description

[0001]This application claims priority from POT application No. PCT / EP2014 / 066213 filed Jul. 28, 2014 which claims priory from European application No. EP 13179185.7 filed on Aug. 2, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The invention relates to a process for the production of an aerogel material. Furthermore, the invention relates to an insulant panel formed from an aerogel material and to a precursor product for producing an aerogel material.PRIOR ART[0003]Aerogels find increased application in building technologies as highly insulating is insulation materials. Numerous methods for their preparation are known. With increasing industrialization of these materials since the turn of the millennium, the manufacturing processes used therefor have continuously been simplified. Basically, one can distinguish between water glass (sodium silicate) and alkoxide-based compounds such as tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and tetramethylorthosilic...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]It is an object of the invention to provide an improved process for the production of aerogel materials. Furthe...

Problems solved by technology

The main cost contributors for these insulation materials, which presently are still comparatively expensive, are the costs due to the laborious type of processing, solvent, solvent losses and concomitant VOC release, as well as raw materials and hydrophobicization agents.

This process is very time-consuming and energy-intensive.

Moreover, operating with supercritical alcohol is a significant safety risk due to the high pressures and temperatures used in combination with the flammability of the alcohol.

The process allows producing an aerogel granulate material with a significantly lower time consumption, but a is significant disadvantage consists in the washing with ethanol, which is required in order to remove the water from the hydrogel phase.

The process...