Synthesis and properties of super hydrophobic silica aerogel/basalt fibers blanket by ambient drying method

Recently, flexible and environmental-friendly aerogel blankets have attracted considerable attention. In this work, the novel silica aerogel/basalt blanket was prepared using basalt fibers via a two-step sol-gel process followed by an ambient drying method and immersing the basalt fiber layer into silica sol. The silica aerogel particles were characterized by FTIR, FE-SEM and nitrogen adsorption analysis. The morphology, hydrophobic properties and surface roughness of neat basalt fiber and its aerogel blanket were also investigated. The density if 0.34 g/cm3, the porosity of 85%, mean pore size of 7±1.5 nm and the surface area of 750 m2/g for the nanostructured silica aerogel particles are obtained. The formation of nanostructured silica aerogel particles on the surface of basalt fibers in the sol-gel process were efficiently occurred leading to a strong hydrophobicity the blanket samples (contact angle of 114°) compared to the hydrophilic neat basalt fibers. The surface roughness of basalt fiber in the blanket samples was increased due to the fiber surface coating with silica aerogel particles. Increasing the sol volume in the synthesis process increased the basalt surface roughness from 3.6μ to 11μ.