pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S08 - Colloidal Materials and Advanced Coatings
Oral Presentation
 
 

Aerogel Microparticles via Surfactant-Free Process

Teo Nicholas (1)*, Jana Sadhan C (1)

(1) University of Akron - OH - USA

Aerogels are a class of highly porous materials that possesses both high surface area and high porosity. When fabricated as microparticles, aerogels have an advantage over monolithic counterparts due to their significantly higher surface area to volume ratio. This grants the advantage of higher diffusion rates to enable access to the highly porous internal structure as well as allowing access to the high surface area necessary for the adsorption of small molecules and ions. However, the fabrication of aerogel microparticles are fraught with multiple challenges such as difficulties in maintaining spherical forms, undesirable aggregation of particles, as well as broad particle size distributions. These issues mainly stem from the traditional fabrication method of emulsion polymerization. In this study, we utilize cheap, easily-assembled microfluidic device fabricated from off-the-shelf components to synthesize polyimide aerogel microparticles. The synthesis of these aerogel microparticles utilizes a DMF/silicone oil emulsion system without any surfactant. Discrete, spherical microparticles with a typical size of 200 micrometers are obtained with their size controlled through dispersed and continuous phase flow rates.