Determination of Young’s modulus of silica aerogels using holographic interferometry

Digital holographic interferometry technique is used to determine elastic modulus of silica aerogels. Tetramethoxysilane precursor based Silica aerogels were prepared by the sol-gel process followed by supercritical methanol drying. The alcogels were prepared by keeping the molar ratio of tetramethoxysilane: methyltrimethoxysilane: H2O constant at 1:0.6:4 while the methanol / tetramethoxysilane molar ratio (M) was varied systematically from 12 to 18. Holograms of translucent aerogel samples have been successfully recorded using the digital holographic interferometry technique. Stimulated digital interferograms gives localization of interference fringes on the aerogel surface and these fringes are used to determine the surface deformation and Young’s modulus (Y) of the aerogels.