Solvent-resistant CTAB-modified polymethylsilsesquioxane aerogels for organic solvent and oil adsorption.

In this work, we describe the successful synthesis of super-hydrophobic polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ) aerogels with a porous network by a sol-gel polymerization process using methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) reactants with the addition of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactants. The specific surface area, pore size and hydrophobicity of the CTAB-modified PMSQ aerogels were investigated for different amounts of CTAB doping. The specific surface areas of the pristine and CTAB-modified PMSQ aerogels with C/M molar ratios of 0.