Preparation and Heat Treatment of Titania Aerogels by Ambient Pressure Drying

Titania (TiO2) aerogels was prepared by sol-gel process with ambient pressure drying, and the heat treatment of prepared aerogels was also carried out. The microstructure and resulting properties of resulting aerogels were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermo-gravimetric/differential thermal analysis(TG/DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The results show that the gelation time of TiO2 gels decreases with the increase of formamide while the trend of ethanol is opposite. Aerogels keeps anatase phase steadily below 1000 degrees C. The heat treatment of the crystalline grains of aerogels could generate agglomerations and reduce specific surface area from 372 m(2)/g to less than 50 m(2)/g.