The properties of silica aerogels hybridized with SiO2 nanoparticles by ambient pressure drying

In this study, we report the chemical characteristics of silica aerogels that were produced by adding SiO2 nanoparticles into silica aerogel by ambient pressure drying. We synthesized silica aerogel composites with different weight percentages of SiO2 nanoparticles ranging from 0 wt% to 0.025 wt% of the total amount of solution. As the wt% of SiO2 nanoparticles increased, the number of chemical bonds that formed during condensation of the silica aerogel increased because of the presence of surface hydroxyl groups, thus the particle size of the silica aerogels increased. Silica nanoparticle-doping of silica aerogels can be used to control the synthesis of nanocomplex structures.