Synthesis of SiC-TiO2 hybrid aerogel via supercritical drying combined PDCs route

The SiC-TiO2 hybrid aerogels were obtained from polycarbosilane (PCS) and tetrabutyltitanate (TBT) as precursors using supercritical drying and polymer derived ceramics route. The polymer to ceramic conversion and the crystallization behavior were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), suggesting the preceramic aerogels converted to the SiC-TiO2 ceramic aerogels through pyrolysis process at different temperatures. At 1200 degrees C, the ceramic aerogels were homogeneous with well-distributed element components, composed of rutile TiO2 and the beta-SiC crystalline phases. The results show that the SiC-TiO2 ceramic aerogels with netwoks structure have 23.36 nm average pore size, high surface area (58 m(2)/g) and pore volume (0.22 cm(3)/g). (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.