Additive Manufacturing of Silica with Rapid Supercritical Extraction

Silica aerogels are mesoporous materials with ultra-low thermal and density. However, traditionally made aerogels are generally hard to manufacture into complex geometries. Additive manufacturing provides a solution for miniature scale and high-fidelity aerogel products, it is a cost-saving method compared to traditional methods of aerogel manufacturing. Additive manufacturing alters solution-sol and sol-gel stages by adding viscosity modifier or functionalization particles, making it possible to implement complex geometry and customizable chemistry. The gel-aerogel transition is achieved by rapid super critical extraction(RSCE) method, which extracts the solution from the gel to form a solid network of aerogels. Detailed chemical formulation, manufacturing procedure, and critical testing results will be presented.