One-pot synthesis of rationally-designed flexible, robust, and hydrophobic ambient-dried molecularly-bridged silica aerogels with efficient and versatile oil/water separation applications

IF 23.2 2区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, COMPOSITES

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Pub Date : 2024-10-21 DOI:10.1007/s42114-024-00969-5

Zeineb Ben Rejeb, Abdelnasser Abidli, Aniss Zaoui, Maryam Fashandi, Ayyoub Selka, Hani E. Naguib, Chul B. Park

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The implementation of silica aerogels (SAs) in numerous applications remains limited due to their costly fabrication process and poor mechanical properties. In order to address these issues, herein, we report the rational design and synthesis of twistable, stretchable, compressible, and highly hydrophobic bridged SAs (BSAs) through an environmentally friendly one-pot process and cost-effective ambient pressure drying. The green thiol-ene reaction was employed to synthesize bis-silane precursors using different linkers. These molecular spacers influenced the sol–gel process and the resulting BSAs’ physicochemical, morphological, and surface properties, including ultra-low density, high porosity, and large specific surface area. Therefore, comprehensive analyses were conducted to better understand their structure-properties relationship. Owing to the flexible molecular bridges and abundant methyl groups introduced in the silica network, BSAs are mechanically resilient and can withstand 200 cyclic fatigue tests at a compressive strain of 80% without fracture. BSAs also exhibited excellent stretchability, achieving up to 47% elongation at break. Ascribed to the hydrophobic bridges’ segments and methyl groups, BSAs are superoleophilic and highly hydrophobic (water contact angle: up to 146.5°). Squeezable and shapable BSAs provided outstanding oil sorption and (continuous) oil/water separation performances, including fast sorption rate, large capacity, ultrahigh flux, and efficient demulsification. BSAs’ robustness, evidenced by their remarkable recyclability and stability under simulated harsh conditions, demonstrates great potential for large-scale oil spill cleanup operations.

• Novel, flexible, and hydrophobic molecularly-bridged silica aerogels were prepared via an eco-friendly one-pot approach.

• Tailorable properties are induced by a rational design of the structure and molecularly-bridged network.

• Great potential for large-scale and practical oil sorption and oil/water separation applications.

• Insights into structure-properties-performance relationships are discussed and illustrated.

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一锅合成合理设计的柔性、坚固和疏水的常温干燥分子桥接二氧化硅气凝胶，具有高效和多功能的油/水分离应用

由于二氧化硅气凝胶（SAs）的制造工艺成本高昂且机械性能较差，因此其在众多领域的应用仍然受到限制。为了解决这些问题，我们在本文中报告了通过环境友好型一锅工艺和经济高效的常压干燥，合理设计和合成可扭曲、可拉伸、可压缩且高度疏水的桥接二氧化硅气凝胶（BSAs）的情况。利用绿色的硫醇-烯反应，使用不同的连接剂合成双硅烷前体。这些分子间隔物影响了溶胶-凝胶过程以及所得到的双硅烷的物理化学、形态和表面特性，包括超低密度、高孔隙率和大比表面积。因此，为了更好地了解它们的结构-性能关系，我们进行了综合分析。由于在二氧化硅网络中引入了柔性分子桥和丰富的甲基，BSA 具有良好的机械弹性，可承受 200 次压缩应变为 80% 的循环疲劳试验而不会断裂。BSA 还具有出色的拉伸性，断裂伸长率高达 47%。由于具有疏水桥段和甲基，BSA 具有超亲水性和高度疏水性（水接触角高达 146.5°）。可挤压成型的 BSA 具有出色的油吸附和（连续）油/水分离性能，包括快速吸附率、大容量、超高通量和高效破乳。通过环保的一锅法制备了新型、柔性和疏水性的分子桥接二氧化硅气凝胶--通过对结构和分子桥接网络的合理设计诱导了可定制的特性--在大规模和实用的石油吸附和油/水分离应用方面具有巨大潜力--讨论并说明了对结构-性能关系的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Multiple-

CiteScore

26.00

自引率

21.40%

发文量

185

期刊介绍： Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials is a leading international journal that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration among materials scientists, engineers, chemists, biologists, and physicists working on composites, including nanocomposites. Our aim is to facilitate rapid scientific communication in this field. The journal publishes high-quality research on various aspects of composite materials, including materials design, surface and interface science/engineering, manufacturing, structure control, property design, device fabrication, and other applications. We also welcome simulation and modeling studies that are relevant to composites. Additionally, papers focusing on the relationship between fillers and the matrix are of particular interest. Our scope includes polymer, metal, and ceramic matrices, with a special emphasis on reviews and meta-analyses related to materials selection. We cover a wide range of topics, including transport properties, strategies for controlling interfaces and composition distribution, bottom-up assembly of nanocomposites, highly porous and high-density composites, electronic structure design, materials synergisms, and thermoelectric materials. Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials follows a rigorous single-blind peer-review process to ensure the quality and integrity of the published work.