en Research Paper Research Paper <div style="text-align: justify;">In the present work, monolithic gels were prepared through different drying procedures including<br> super critical, infrared wavelengths and traditional drying methods. Dense and transparent glasses<br> were obtained after controlled heat treatment of the dried porous xerogels in air atmosphere.<br> The chemical bonding as well as different properties of the prepared gels and the relevant glasses<br> were examined by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmitt-<br> Teller (BET) and UV-Vis spectrometer. Based on the obtained results, different drying conditions<br> affect the average pore size and the total pore volume of the studied gels. The mean pore size was<br> found to be 8.7 nm, 2.4 nm and 3.2 nm for super critical, IR radiation and slow drying in air<br> atmosphere, respectively. The glass network structure was significantly changed by heat treatment&nbsp; temperature so that the B-O-Si bonds were formed only after 450 &deg;C. It was found that the gel dried under super critical condition was unable to reach to its full density all over the selected sintering temperature interval.<br> &nbsp;</div> ,Sol-gel glass,Super critical drying,IR drying,Sintering activation energy 1 9 http://ijmse.iust.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3838-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sara Ahmadi s.ahmadi@standard.ac.ir 1800319475328460014756 1800319475328460014756 Yes Standard Research institute, Technology and Engineering Research Center, Construction and Minerals Research Group, Alborz, Iran Bijan Eftekhari Yekta 1800319475328460014757 1800319475328460014757 No Ceramic Division, School of Materials and Metallurgy Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran Hossein Sarpoolaky 1800319475328460014758 1800319475328460014758 No Ceramic Division, School of Materials and Metallurgy Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran Alireza Aghaei 1800319475328460014759 1800319475328460014759 No Ceramic Department, Materials and Energy Research Center (MERC), Alborz, Iran