System and method for 3D printing of aerogels

1. A method of forming an aerogel including:

providing a graphene oxide powder;

mixing the graphene oxide powder with a solution to form an ink;

using a 3D printing technique to write the ink into a catalytic solution that is contained in a fluid containment member to form a wet part;

curing the wet part in a sealed container for a predetermined period of time at a predetermined temperature, to form a cured wet part; and

drying the cured wet part to form a finished aerogel part.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 3D printing technique is performed repeatedly to form a plurality of ink layers, one on top of another.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 3D printing technique is performed using a continuous stream of the ink to deposit the ink in a desired pattern in the catalytic solution.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 3D printing technique is performed using droplets of the ink to deposit the ink in a desired pattern in the catalytic solution.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising washing the cured wet part prior to drying the cured wet part.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding a filler material into the ink prior to performing the 3D printing technique.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein adding the filler material comprises adding at least one of the following materials:

fumed silica;

carbon black; and

graphene nanoplatelets.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising removing the filler material from the finished aerogel part.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the filler material is etched using sodium hydroxide to remove the filler material from the finished aerogel part.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying a thermal treatment to the finished aerogel part to enhance electrical conductivity of the finished aerogel part.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the finished aerogel part forms a multi-layer, three dimensional structure.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the finished aerogel part forms a three dimensional structure having a hierarchy of pore sizes ranging from less than 2 nm to greater than 100 microns.

13. A method of forming an aerogel including:

providing a graphene oxide powder;

mixing the graphene oxide powder with an aqueous solution;

performing a sonication operation on the mixture of the graphene oxide powder and the aqueous solution to form an ink;

using a 3D printing technique to write the ink into a catalytic solution, wherein the catalytic solution is contained in a fluid containment member;

performing the 3D printing technique to apply the ink to form a plurality of ink layers, one on top of another, to form a wet three dimensional part having a desired shape and desired dimensions;

curing the wet three dimensional part in a sealed container for a predetermined period of time at a predetermined temperature to produce a cured wet three dimensional part; and

supercritically drying the cured wet three dimensional part to form a finished aerogel part.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the curing is performed in a sealed container at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time period.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the curing is performed at a temperature of about 85 degree Celsius.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising, after curing the wet three dimensional part, washing the cured, wet three dimensional part prior to supercritically drying the cured, wet three dimensional part.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising performing a thermal operation on the finished aerogel part to enhance its electrical conductivity.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

applying a filler material to the ink before the ink is used in the 3D printing; and

after the supercritical drying, removing the filler material from the finished aerogel part.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein using the 3D printing technique to write the ink into a catalytic solution comprises using the 3D printing technique to write the ink into ammonia saturated iso-octane.