By using glycidol as a catalyst, high porosity, low-density resorcinol (R) and formaldehyde (F) aerogels and carbon aerogels (CAs) were synthesized via a sol-gel method. The effect of glycidol and water on the color, density, morphology, textual characteristics and adsorption properties of the resultant RF aerogels and CAs were investigated in detail. The results revealed that the properties of RF aerogels and CAs can be controlled by adjusting the amount of glycidol and water. The resultant RF aerogels and CAs were porous materials, the minimum densities of RF aerogels and CAs were 96 and 110 mg cm-3 respectively while the maximum specific surface areas of RF aerogels and CAs were 290 and 597 m2 g-1. The maximum adsorption capacity of CAs was about 125 mg g-1 on Rhodamine B, which was higher than that of some reported CAs catalyzed by base and acid catalysts. The sol-gel mechanisms of RF aerogels and CAs can be attributed to the opening of the epoxy group of glycidol in the mixture of R and F.
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