David Gonçalves

Mr. David Gonçalves

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

1Year (2026-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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10 June 2026 in Gels
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Cláudio AlmeidaCláudio Almeida
Cláudio Almeida
DGDavid Gonçalves
David Gonçalves
BJBrigite Jorge
Brigite Jorge
PSPedro César Fernandes e Silva
Pedro César Fernandes e Silva
TCTiago Cardoso
Tiago Cardoso
Luísa DurãesLuísa Durães
Luísa Durães
Aerogels were produced exclusively from recycled plastic bottles of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (rPET) by optimising a dissolution–precipitation process at room temperature and applying a product design strategy to improve their sustainability. Using a design of experiments methodology, the systematic assessment of the influence of different factors, namely rPET concentration, co-solvent ratio, and non-solvent quantity, on the key properties of rPET aerogel, namely bulk density, thermal conductivity, and mechanical resistance, was performed. The understanding of the significance of each parameter and the optimisation of a desirability function offered reliable optimum results for the adjustment of the experimental procedure for the reduction in the volume of the most critical solvent, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), by 42.5%. The observed bulk density values were excellent, down to 110 kg·m−3, and the thermal conductivity was in the range of conventional commercial insulators (38 mW·m−1·K−1), positioning this material as a real alternative to conventional thermal insulators. Also, to deeply understand the dissolution/precipitation phenomena, molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to support the experimental outcomes.