Silica aerogel synthesis from volcanic tuff wastes and its utilization into plaster based composites for high thermal insulating properties

The building sector is one of the top three highest energy consuming sectors. A great part of the energy consumed by the building sector (at 51%) serves the purposes of heating and cooling. Leading to high energy consumption is the fact that about 70% of this total energy is lost through the building envelope. Hence with the aim of reducing the energy consumption of the building sector and its relative carbon dioxide emission, the construction sector has been interested in researches on the production of construction materials having high thermal insulating properties. In this scope, affordable silica aerogel was synthesized from volcanic tuff wastes by employing a sol-gel method and ambient pressure drying in the present study. The potential usability of the as-synthesized silica aerogel powder in the construction sector for the production of construction materials with enhanced thermal insulation properties was investigated by incorporating it into plaster based composites at various vol % ratios (25%, 50% and 75%). structural and morphological properties of the as-synthesized silica aerogel powder were investigated using XRD and BET analyses. Mechanical, physical and thermal conductivity properties of silica aerogel plaster based composites were determined in accordance to suitable standards. As a result, it was determined that silica aerogel having desired properties can be successfully synthesized from volcanic tuff wastes by employing sol-gel method and ambient temperature drying. The as-synthesized silica aerogel was determined to have a BET surface area of 662,9876 m2/g and a total pore volume of 0,9096 cm3/g. It was found that the incorporation of the as synthesized silica aerogel powder into plaster (at 50 vol%) resulted in composites with a density as low as 0,76 g/cm3, thermal conductivity value as low as 0,069 W/mK and compressive strength value as low as 1,22 MPa.