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Abstract
Hydrophobic silicone macroporous materials prepared in an aqueous solution by the sol–gel method have been considered for various applications such as oil/water separation media, heat insulators, and liquid nitrogen adsorbents. In the conventional preparation process, surfactants are used to suppress phase separation to obtain a uniform bulk material. However, a large amount of solvent and time are required to remove them before drying, which hinders industrial-scale synthesis. By copolymerizing tetra-, tri-, and bifunctional organosilicon alkoxides in an aqueous acetic acid–urea solution, flexible macroporous silicone monoliths were successfully obtained, which recover their original shape even after 80 % uniaxial compression and large bending. The macroporous materials showed water repellency and heat resistance characteristic of silicone, and the thermal conductivity ~0.035 W m−1 K−1 did not increase even after 60 % uniaxial compression. Those silicone monoliths fabricated by a simple and highly reproducible green process are expected to be used widely.
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