Aerogels for Sensing Applications

In the subsequent work [29], polyvinyl alcohol was introduced to the clay suspension prior to freeze-drying to produce a polymer/aerogel composite. A similar approach was used to incorporate nickel particles into a clay aerogel, yielding a metal/aerogel composite with magnetic properties. 

Clay aerogel composites show considerable promise as platforms for chemical sensors due to the ease with which the polymer/clay and metal/clay aerogel composites were formed, combined with the extensive literature on modification of clays to yield functional materials. 

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Anderson M L, Rolison D R, Merzbacher C I (1999) Composite aerogels for sensing applications. Proc SPIE 3790 38 2. 

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