Characterization of the microstructures of copper-based aerogels on the sol–gel process

In this thesis, we will elaborate on the sol–gel process during the preparation of monolithic copper-based aerogel. The microstructure of the copper-based aerogel appears to be various due to the different amounts of raw materials, such as polyacrylic acid, propene oxide, deionized water (H 2 O) and copper(II) chloride (CuCl 2 ) in the sol–gel process. The proper molar ratios between these reactants play a crucial factor in mediating the morphology of the aerogel. The aerogels are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller methods. The combined results indicate that the copper-based aerogel shows a typical three-dimensional porous structure with a large surface areas about 568 m 2 /g, and the skeleton structure of the aerogel is composed of a large number of primary particles with the size about a few nanometers.