Preparation of carbon aerogels at room temperature using acetonitrile as solvent

Carbon aerogels were synthesized at room temperature by a sol–gel polymerization route using resorcinol and formaldehyde as precursors, acetonitrile as solvent and hydrochloric acid as catalyst, followed by CO2 supercritical drying and carbonization. FT-IR, SEM, XRD and nitrogen adsorption were used to characterize the microstructure of the aerogels. Results showed that the carbon aerogels are graphite-like amorphous materials with nano-skeleton networks formed by nanoparticles around 40–70 nm in diameter, whose specific surface area is up to 1300 m2 g−1 and lowest density about 0.050 g/cm3. The heat of condensation and the catalytic action of hydrochloric acid made it possible to form gels at room temperature. The high surface area and low density of the as-prepared carbon aerogels were ascribed to a strong interaction between acetonitrile and –OH groups by hydrogen bonding.