• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.829-834
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• 1999

The silica aerogels opacified via adding oxides were prepared by the sol-gel supercritical drying technique and their characteristics of mechanical strength and thermal conduction were investigated. The compressive strength of SiO2-10 mol% TiO2 and SiO2-10mol% Fe2O3 aerogels were 0.11 and 0.047 MP a respectively much higher than 0.025 MPa of pure silica aerogels. The thermal conductivity of silica aerogels opacified by TiO2 was as low as 0.02505 W/m${\cdot}$K at $400^{\circ}C$ It was found that the TiO2 -opacifier for improving mechanical strength and suppressing high temperature conduction of pure silica aerogels was more effective than the Fe2O3 -opacifier