Formation of polycyanoacrylate-silica nanocomposites by chemical vapor deposition of cyanoacrylates on aerogels

The Chemical Vapor Decomposition (CVD) reinforcement of aerogels using cyanoacrylate to create a silica-polycynanoacrylate nanocomposites was presented. Cylindrical silica aerogels were prepared by standard base-catalyzed sol-gel techniques followed by supercritical carbon dioxide drying. The results indicate that the deposition of cyanoacrylate causes the aerogels to change from transparent to opaque white. Silica aerogel monoliths analyzed using a three-point compression analysis found that the aerogels have rupture strengths consistent with aerogels of a density of approximately 0.077. The treated aerogels result in an increase in surface hydrophobicity as the CVD modified aerogels float on water without wetting and cracking. The results also show that decreasing the number of initiating members on the aerogel surface results in strong nanoparticles based on high molecular weight polycyanoacrylates.