Apparatus for rapidly drying a wet, porous gel monolith

A drying chamber assembly for drying a wet, porous gel monolith, comprising:

• an outer container formed of quartz and having a closed, substantially cylindrical side wall and a bottom wall;
• an inner container formed of quartz and having a closed, substantially cylindrical side wall and a top wall, the inner container being disposed concentrically within the outer container, to define a thin annular space between the two side walls, and to define a drying chamber between the bottom wall of the outer container and the side wall and top wall of the inner container;
• an inlet port extending through the top wall of the inner container;
• an outlet port extending through the side wall of the outer container;
• a tube extending from the outlet port downwardly through the thin annular space to a position adjacent to the bottom wall;
• a pump connected to the outlet port, for selectively expelling liquids from the drying chamber;
• a condenser connected to the outlet port, for condensing solvent vapor expelled from the drying chamber;
• means for selectively supplying a predetermined gas to the drying chamber via the inlet port;
• and
• means for controllably heating the drying chamber.

A drying chamber assembly for drying a wet porous gel monolith, comprising:

• an outer container having a closed side wall and a bottom wall;
• an inner container having a closed side wall and a top wall, the inner container being disposed with its side wall radially inwardly of the side wall of the outer container, to define a thin annular space between the two side walls, and to define a drying chamber between the bottom wall of the outer container and the side wall and top wall of the inner container;
• an inlet port extending through the top wall of the inner container;
• an outlet port extending through the side wall of the outer container;
• a tube extending from the outlet port downwardly through the thin annular space to a position adjacent to the bottom wall;
• a pump connected to the outlet port, for selectively expelling liquids from the drying chamber via the tube and the outlet port;
• and
• a condenser connected to the outlet port, for condensing solvent vapor expelled from the drying chamber.

A drying chamber assembly for drying a wet, porous gel monolith, comprising:

• a quartz outer container having a substantially cylindrical closed side wall and a bottom wall;
• a quartz inner container having a substantially cylindrical closed side wall and a top wall, the inner container being disposed with its side wall radially inwardly of and concentric with the side wall of the outer container, to define a thin annular space between the two side walls, and to define a drying chamber between the bottom wall of the outer container and the side wall and top wall of the inner container;
• an inlet port extending through the top wall of the inner container;
• an outlet port extending through the side wall of the outer container;
• and
• means for expelling liquids from the drying chamber via the outlet port.