Process for producing porous or finely divided solid inorganic materials

1. A process for producing porous or finely divided solid inorganic materials, the surface of which has been modified with at least one organic substance, comprising a treatment with an organic liquid under supercritical conditions,

wherein the process comprises:

a) providing a hydrogel of the inorganic material;

b) removing the water by treating the hydrogel with an anhydrous organic liquid, and

c) drying the treated hydrogel under supercritical conditions in the presence of the organic liquid;

or

a′) providing a finely divided solid inorganic material having an unmodified surface and

b′) treating the material provided in step a′) with the organic liquid under supercritical conditions;

wherein the solid inorganic material is an aerogel; the organic liquid being a mixture of at least one reactive organic substance which can react with the atoms of the inorganic material to form a chemical bond and at least one inert organic substance and mixtures thereof, wherein the mixture has a critical point which is at lower temperature and/or lower pressure than the critical point of the reactive organic substance; wherein the inert organic substance is a C3-C8-alkane and the reactive organic substance is a C2-C4-alkanol.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein removal of the water is preceded by freeing the hydrogel of ionic constituents by washing with water or dilute aqueous solutions of inorganic bases.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the water is removed by treating the hydrogel with the anhydrous organic liquid under subcritical conditions.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the finely divided solid inorganic material is a structure which, in at least one spatial direction, has a material thickness M of not more than 1000 nm, and as an overall structure has, in at least one spatial direction, a dimension which is at least 5 times the material thickness M.

5. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the overall structure has, in at least one spatial direction, a dimension in the range from 10 μm to 10 cm.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solid inorganic material is in the form of

agglomerates of particles having a mean particle diameter of not more than 100 nm, the proportion by volume of the inorganic material, based on the total volume of the agglomerate, being in the range from 1 to 20% by volume.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solid inorganic material is selected from metal oxides and semimetal oxides.

8. The process according to claim 7 , wherein the solid inorganic material comprises, as the main component, at least one oxide selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, zinc oxide, tin(IV) oxide, titanium(IV) oxide and aluminum oxide in an amount of 90 to 100% by weight, based on the total weight of the solid inorganic material.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the inert organic substance has a lower critical temperature and/or a lower critical pressure than the reactive organic substance.

10. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the inert organic substance has a critical temperature in the range from 20 to 300° C.

11. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the inert organic substance has a critical pressure in the range from 20 to 80 bar.

12. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment with the organic liquid is effected at a temperature of not more than 40° C. above the critical temperature of the organic liquid.

13. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the finely divided solid inorganic material is a structure which, in at least one spatial direction, has a material thickness M of 2 to 500 nm, and as an overall structure has, in at least one spatial direction, a dimension which is at least 5 times the material thickness M.

14. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solid inorganic material is in the form of

agglomerates of particles having a mean particle diameter of 2 to 80 nm, the proportion by volume of the inorganic material, based on the total volume of the agglomerate, being in the range from 1 to 20% by volume.

15. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the inert organic substance is n-pentane, n-hexane or n-heptane, and the reactive organic substance is isopropanol.