Properties of porous silica glasses prepared via sol-gel process

Abstract

Porous silica glasses were obtained through sol-gel processing employing tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS) as precursor, with HNO3 and HF as catalysts. The gels were heat-treated at temperatures ranging from 400 Celsius degree to 900 Celsius degree. Some gels were gamma ray irradiated. Specific surface areas, pore size distributions and solid densities of the gels were obtained by nitrogen sorption and mercury pycnometry. Pore morphology was inferred through curves of nitrogen sorption hysteresis, and an evaluation of pore connectivities and permeabilities were carried out.