3. Optical properties
Aerogels derived from organic cross-linking are, for the most part, opaque. Only resorcinol formaldehyde aerogels, with their very low density and red color, are slightly transparent. Melamine formaldehyde gels are transparent, but the evacuation of the solvent during the drying stage results in opacity.
Because of their transparency, only silica aerogels are likely to have optical properties of interest in the visible range.
A transparent material is one that transmits light. For good transmission, the material must be non-absorbent in the spectral range under consideration, and scattering must be low. Given the low density of aerogels, the index is relatively low and, to a first approximation, optical losses through...
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Optical properties