Abstract: The carbonaceous alcosol and the silica alcosol were prepared respectively by using aqua-mesophase and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as starting materials.
Then the two alcosols were mixed and dried in open air and under supercritical fluid conditions to form binary carbonaceous-silica xerogel powders and
aerogel powders respectively. The morphology, structure and composition of binary xerogel powders and aerogel powders were characterized by FT-IR,
TEM, XRD and nitrogen adsorption. The results show that the binary xerogel powders are composed of almost spherical, agglomerated and amorphous binary
carbonaceous-silica particles. The particle sizes of binary xerogel are about 80-220nm. The binary aerogel powders, which show loose appearance structure
and good fluidity, consist of spherical, well-disposed and amorphous binary carbonaceous-silica particles. The particle sizes of the binary aerogel are over the range of 10-60nm.

Key words: binary xerogel, binary aerogel, ultrafine particles, preparation