Synthesis and Characterization of High Surface Area Transparent SiOC Aerogels from Hybrid Silicon Alkoxide: A Comparison between Ambient Pressure and Supercritical Drying

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors describe the synthesis of highly porous and transparent silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) gels sized from Bis(Triethoxysilyl) Methane (BTEM) by the sol-gel technique followed by drying at ambient and supercritical pressure. This paper is well written, and the results presented are interesting and can be accepted for publication, after minor modifications:
* the stability of the synthesized gel should be discussed
* the scales must be added on the x-axis and the y-axis
* the transmittance axis should be added in figures 5, 6, 7, 8 and 12

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

1. What is the reason behind synthesising this type of material is not mentioned in the introduction, which is very imp to establish the necessity of this material
2. Why is this method of synthesising unique or what is the novelty of this process. Establish a comparison table to set the benchmark of your work
3. Correct the line spacing from line 123-127
4. It is recommended to conduct thermal analysis like TG-DTA to understand the thermal stability and conversion temperature more accurately
5. SEM images should be included to understand the porosity, morphology 
6. Also, transparency of the material should be noted 
7. Finally, application of these materials should be clearly mentioned

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

In this paper, the authors synthesized the highly porous and transparent Silicon Oxycarbide (SiOC) gels using Bis(Triethoxysilyl) Methane (BTEM).

For this paper, the answer is “Major Revision”. Please include:

• At Introduction, authors must include the advantages of ambient pressure and supercritical CO₂ drying methods employed to this study.
• Specify what does it mean “ambient pressure”
• At 3.2., in order to compare the samples, include the infrared spectra of BTEMx xerogel and BTEM aerogel in Figure 5 and eliminated the Figure 6.
• At 3.3., page 11, line 282, specify the full name for BJH method
• Page 11, line 289, modify “The SSA” with “The Specific surface area (SSA)”.
• At Conclusion, please, specify the applications of the prepared materials.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

all comments are addressed

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors have improve the paper and it can be publish in this form.