Patent ID: 11884002
Assignee: LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  C  G | IPC B  C

Claim 12:
13. A method for making a three-dimensional micro-architected aerogel, comprising:
(a) curing a reaction mixture comprising a co-sol-gel material and at least one catalyst to obtain a crosslinked co-sol-gel;
(b) providing a photoresin comprising a solvent, a photoinitiator, a crosslinkable polymer precursor, and a dispersion of the crosslinked co-sol-gel;
(c) curing the photoresin using projection microstereolithography layer-by-layer to produce a wet gel having a pre-designed three-dimensional structure;
(d) drying the wet gel to produce a dry gel; and
(e) pyrolyzing the dry gel to produce a three-dimensional micro-architected aerogel,
wherein step (b) comprises washing the crosslinked co-sol-gel by solvent exchange, dispersing the crosslinked co-sol-gel in the solvent by sonication, and adding the photoinitiator and the crosslinkable polymer precursor to the dispersion of the crosslinked co-sol-gel.