Role of Pickering stabilization and bulk gelation for the preparation and properties of solid silica foams.

Foaming of particulate suspensions, followed by foam drying, is developed as an efficient method for production of highly porous materials with various applications. A key factor for success is the appropriate choice of surfactants which both modify the particle surface and stabilize the foam. Here we compare the efficiency of this method for silica suspensions containing two surfactants which lead to very different types of foam stabilization.