Investigation of Silica Aerogels Effect on Paint Characteristics

Year 2019, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 139 - 146, 10.10.2019

Rana Aksu , Berrin Saygi

Abstract

New
methods of energy saving are being researched by many scientists. An important
research area in these studies are insulating paints. Silica aerogels are one
of nanostructured insulating materials with low thermal conductivity, high
surface area and low density. The main aim of this project is to study on
alternative paint insulator by producing silica aerogel. In this research, Na₂SiO₃
and H₂SO₄ solution were used for synthesis of aerogels by
using the sol-gel method. Acetonitrile and methanol:hexane solution was used
for solvent exchange and surface modification. The effects of the process
parameters such as the reaction 
temperature  (35-55^oC),
 the solution amount (150-180ml), the
aging temperature (70-90^oC) 
and the drying temperature (50-70^oC) were studied. Depends on
the reaction parameters, three different kinds of aerogels were synthesized
(aerogel1(A1), aerogel2(A2) and aerogel3(A3)). After that production progress,
silica aerogels were added to two different kinds of paints (water and
solvent-based). Aerogel amounts (%1-%3) and aerojel types were chosen as
experiment factors. Properties of these samples, such as viscosity,
hydrophobicity and adhesivity were measured. The viscosity measurements showed
that the viscosity increase with the increasing amount of aerogel in both types
of paint. When compared, the hydrophobic properties, best results were obtained
in the using of A2 for water-based paint and using of A1 for the solvent-based
paint. For the adhesivity, it can be said that it has an improving effect for
all aerogel and paint types . In conclusion, the result of experiments
demonstrated that silica aerogels have a positive effect on paint
characteristics

Keywords

Aerogel, Insulation materials for paints, Energy saving

References

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