Vacuum-dried robust bridged silsesquioxane aerogels

Abstract

Robust aerogels derived from a thiol-ene clicked bridged silsesquioxane precursor are obtained by a facile vacuum-drying method. With rather low densities, the flexible aerogels are still robust enough to bear at least 20 repeating compressions and further functionalization by wet doping. The durability and facile preparation procedure promise the aerogels' wider practical applications.

Keywords: aerogels; bridged silsesquioxanes; click chemistry; robustness; vacuum drying.