Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 8, 2026
High Temperature Fabrication of Nanostructured Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia YSZ Scaffolds by In Situ Carbon Templating Xerogels
Published on: April 16, 2017
Towards a feasible and scalable production of bio-xerogels
Natalia Rey-Raap1, Andrzej Szczurek2, Vanessa Fierro2
1Instituto Nacional del Carbón, CSIC, Apartado 73, 33080 Oviedo, Spain.
Hypothesis:
The synthesis process of carbon xerogels is limited, mainly due to two drawbacks that prevent their introduction onto the market: (i) the long time required for producing the material and (ii) the reagents used for the synthesis, which are costly and harmful to the environment. Microwave radiation is expected to produce a reduction in time of more than 90%, while the use of tannin instead of resorcinol will probably result in a cost-effective carbonaceous material.
Experiments:
Resorcinol-tannin-formaldehyde xerogels containing different amounts of tannin, either with or without a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate), were synthesized by means of two different heating methods: conventional and microwave heating. The effects of the surfactant, the heating method and the addition of tannin upon the porous structure and the chemical composition of the final materials were evaluated.
Findings:
It was found that the addition of surfactant is essential for obtaining highly porous xerogels when using tannins. The heating method also plays an important role, as conventionally synthesized samples display a greater volume of large pores. However, tannins are less sensitive to microwave radiation and their use results in tannin-formaldehyde xerogels that have a porous structure and chemical composition similar to those of resorcinol-formaldehyde xerogels.
