In recent years, nanocomposite materials have been the subjects of intensive research due to their unique properties and numerous potential applications in heterogeneous catalysis, high-k dielectric materials, optical wave guides, paints, antibacterial agent, and fillers for thin paper. Manipulation of their sizes, shapes, microstructures, surface activity, and surface areas is crucial to improving their characteristic properties: catalytic activity, photoactivity, chemical durability, and their optical and thermal properties. The properties of final product strongly depend on the properties...

In recent years, interest in the preparation and characterization of the na-noporous materials has grown due to their distinctive properties and potential applications. Among them, silica aerogel are transparent, highly porous and lightest synthetic solids. Silica aerogels, prepared by sol-gel method followed by supercritical drying, have various extraordinary properties viz. low density (~20 mg/cm3) and thermal conductivity (0.05 W/mK), low sound velocity (~100 m/s) and large surface area (> 1500 m2/g). Due to this unique combination of properties, aerogels are considered as a new class...