An experimental study on production of silica aero-gel using fly ash from coal-fired power plants

silica aero-gels were synthesized from coal fly ash at ambient pressure. The experimental procedure for silica aero-gels production included alkali dissolution of fly ash, surface hydrophobic treatment of the wet-gel, followed by drying of the wet-gel samples at ambient pressure was investigated. Optimized experimental parameters for production of silica aero-gels from fly ash were obtained through systematic studies. BET, SEM and FTIR and contact angle measurement were used in order to investigate the structure and characteristics of the silica aero-gel powders