Patent ID: 7270851

Claim:
A method for increasing the compressive modulus of aerogels comprising: providing aerogel substrate comprising a bubble matrix in a chamber; providing monomer to the chamber comprising vapor phase monomer by vaporizing said monomer at a vaporization temperature of about 200° C. or less at about 1 atm or less to produce said vapor phase monomer which polymerizes substantially free of polymerization byproducts; depositing said monomer from the vapor phase onto the surface of the aerogel substrate under deposition conditions effective to produce a vapor pressure sufficient to cause the vapor phase monomer to penetrate into the bubble matrix and deposit onto the surface of the aerogel substrate, producing a substantially uniform monomer film; and, polymerizing the substantially uniform monomer film under polymerization conditions effective to produce polymer coated aerogel comprising a substantially uniform polymer coating substantially free of polymerization byproducts, wherein said depositing monomer comprises adsorbing monomer from the vapor phase onto the surface of the aerogel substrate, and wherein said polymerization conditions comprise an initiator; a polymerization pressure of 1 atmosphere or more; a polymerization time of about 24 hours or less; and, a polymerization temperature of about 250° C. or less.