thermal analysis; carbon aerogels; polycondensation

Preparation of carbon aerogels consists of three basic steps - sol-gel polycondensation of appropriate organic precursors in liquid phase, drying of resulting gel and subsequent pyrolysis leading to carbonaceous material. Thermoanalytical methods are commonly used for characterization and evaluation of the third (pyrolytic) step. The aim of this contribution is to show possibilities of thermal analysis in the first (polycondensation) step of CA preparation with the use of standard TA equipment.