Abstract: | A qualitative classification algorithm for constructing large clusters of aerogel model structures is used. According to this algorithm, aerogel is classified with polysilicas characterized by a packing of long chains of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra. A model of the aerogel structure is suggested, according to which aerogel is described as a set of cross-linked chains forming double or more complex ribbons. This model is in agreement with the conclusions drawn from analysis of the vibration spectra of its components. Institute of Surface Chemistry, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Russian University of Peoples' Friendship. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 35–38, May–June, 1994. Translated by O. Kharlamova |