Conference Papers

Aerogels are porous materials that have been the subject of extensive research for many years. Monolithic silica aerogels, due to their continuous pore network structure and lack of inparticles voids, are model systems used to study transport phenomena at the pore scale. In monolith aerogels prepared by drying under ambient pressure, crack formation is a more common problem than with other drying methods. Therefore, the effects of surface functionalisation on the pore connectivity and transport pathways are directly evaluated using indirect indicators. For monolithic aerogels dried at ambient pressure, quantitative analysis of these effects is limited. In this study, monolithic silica aerogels were synthesized using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) via a two-step acid-base sol-gel process. Following this, hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) surface silylation was applied to the aerogels to prevent shrinkage and cracking. After production, the surface chemistry was altered by post-grafting with controlled amounts of aminosilane, resulting in a series of samples with the same production history and geometry but at different functionalization levels. This strategy allows for the investigation of only the effect of surface functionalization, excluding structural differences that might occur during gel formation. Characterization studies were conducted to determine the cross-scale structure-function relationships of the synthesized aerogels. The three-dimensional pore architecture was quantified by X-ray microcomputed tomography, allowing the extraction of transportrelated metrics such as porosity, pore connectivity, and crumpleness. Surface area and porosity analyzer (BET) analysis was performed to obtain information about surface area and pore size distribution. Nanometre-scale structural features were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surface chemistry and functionalization efficiency were validated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results reveal that surface functionalization alters the transport regime by disrupting pore connectivity beyond a certain threshold. Although moderate amine binding largely preserves the pore accessibility, it was observed that tortuosity increases and effective pore accessibility decreases at higher functionalisation levels. This nonlinear behaviour demonstrates that surface modification can limit transport without a significant change in total porosity. This study aims not to develop a new material or adsorbent but rather to position monolithic silica aerogels as reference porous media to elucidate the effects of surface functionalization on transport at the pore scale. The findings highlight the importance of the balance between chemical properties and pore accessibility in the design of functional porous materials.

This study delved into the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) literature review findings regarding photovoltaic (PV) recycling methodologies. LCAs' boundaries significantly influence environmental impact categories such as functional units, electricity consumption, material flows. Regardless of system scale functional unit values of literature studies are given to compare different system boundaries. This paper highlights PV module types and LCA tools, noting thermal methods in both c-Si and CdTe PV technologies yield lower environmental impacts than chemical and mechanical approaches. Additionally, a delamination process was conducted and LCA results were analyzed at the laboratory scale using hexane. The delamination success is 99%. Notably, recycling significantly diminishes environmental footprints compared to landfilling, with a fraction of Global Warming Potential (GWP) values.

ABSTRACT Photovoltaic materials or a solar cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. There are several different...

ABSTRACT SMPs are smart materials widely accepted for potential applications in biomedical devices, aerospace, textile, civil engineering, biomedical, energy, electronic engineering and household products, with their large deformations,

Full Text Paper/Poster

Aerogel is a type of material with an expanded three-dimensional network structure, assembled by consistent polymer molecules. Organic aerogels have gained attention in recent years as environmentally friendly materials due to their high porosity, low density, and similar characteristics. With the increasing interest, biobased aerogels are regarded as key materials for sustainable studies due to their renewable sources, and biocompatible structures. In this study, the synthesis methods of cellulose-based aerogels, the structural properties of the obtained materials, and their applications are discussed. In aerogel production, cellulosic materials are generally converted via the sol-gel method and various drying techniques are applied. The pore size and structures of the produced bio-based aerogels vary depending on the precursor, synthesis method, and drying technique. To increase their mechanical strength, crosslinkers and/or hybrid structures are used, and various modifications are made. The produced bio-based find a broad spectrum of applications. Those with low density can be used as supercapacitor materials. Additionally, they are recognized as efficient materials in absorption and adsorption. As a result, bio-based aerogels have a potential that can be evaluated for the development of sustainable material technologies. Thanks to their eco-friendly characteristics and advantageous properties, they hold great potential in various fields including energy storage, CO₂ capture, and electromagnetic shielding. Future studies will focus on improving their properties and enabling industrialscale production.

ABSTRACT Increasing environmental problems and the rapid depletion of energy resources is a major concern that has led researchers to improve energy storage techniques. Late...

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