Varian 640 ir spectrometer

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was conducted using infrared-grade KBr disks and a Varian 640-IR spectrometer (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) in the 400–4000 cm⁻¹ range (4 cm⁻¹ resolution, 32 scans).
X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were performed with Panalytical Empyrean diffractometer (Malvern Panalytical Ltd., Malvern, UK) equipped with a Bragg Brentano geometry (Cu-Kα1 radiation; λ = 0.154056 nm). The X-ray diffraction patterns were collected in 0–80 2θ range (scan step size = 0.02°, scanning time as per step = 20 s, room temperature). Each measurement was performed in triplicate in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. XRD patterns were analyzed using Profex Software [26 (link)].

All the synthetized aerogels were characterized through scanning electron microscope (SEM) to investigate the shape and the porosity of the inner framework of the materials. SEM analyses were realized using a Zeiss Evo50 with EDS Bruker Quantax 200, while the aerogels were chemically characterized with attenuated total reflection (ATR) analysis, using a Varian 640–IR spectrometer from Agilent Technologies. Spectra were collected at room temperature under dry nitrogen atmosphere in the 400–4000 cm⁻¹ wavenumber range, with an average of 64 repetitive scans to guarantee a good signal-to-noise ratio and high reproducibility and with a resolution of 4 cm⁻¹. Moreover, XRD pattern of the material was obtained with Philips x-ray diffractometer model PW1830 (Kα1Cu = 1.54058 A°). TGA analysis was done by using SDT Q600 (TA Instruments) at a scan rate 10 °C/min under nitrogen flow (100 mL/min).