Synthesis of silica aerogel films in liquid molds

By virtue of their low density and thermal conductivity, aerogels constitute attractive thermal insulators. Of those, aerogel films are best suited for thermal insulation in microsystems. Processes for the synthesis of aerogel films with thicknesses smaller than 2 µm or thicker than 1 mm are well established. However, for microsystems films in the range of a few microns and up to several hundred microns would be beneficial. To circumvent the present limitations, we describe a liquid mold made of two immiscible liquids, used here to produce aerogel films thicker than 2 µm in a single molding step. Following gelation and aging, the gels were removed from the liquids and dried using supercritical carbon dioxide. In contrast to spin/dip coating, liquid molding avoids solvent evaporation from the gel's outer surface during gelation and aging, films are free-standing and have smooth surfaces. The choice of liquids determines the aerogel film thickness. As a proof of concept, 130 µm thick homogeneous and high porosity (>90%) silica aerogel films were synthesized in a liquid mold with fluorine oil and octanol. The resemblance of the liquid mold approach to the float glass technique offers the prospect of mass production of large sheets of aerogel films.