Comparative analysis of superhydrophobic elastic polymethylsilsesquioxane aerogels produced at atmospheric pressure and under supercritical conditions

The effect of drying conditions of elastic polymethylsilsesquioxane aerogels (at atmospheric pressure, supercritical drying in CO2 or methanol) on their structure (including porosity and specific surface area), hydrophobicity and mechanical properties under compression has been studied. It was established that the structure and physical-mechanical properties of the airgels produced under different conditions differed insignificantly, which demonstrated the possibility of obtaining elastic highly porous superhydrophobic materials without the use of expensive equipment for supercritical drying. Polymethylsilsesquioxane aerogels obtained by supercritical drying in methanol had the best mechanical characteristics during compression (tensile strength and relative deformation).