An All-Ceramic, Anisotropic, and Flexible Aerogel Insulation Material

Journal Article · 08 April 2020 · Nano Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00917 · OSTI ID:1616276

An, Lu ^[1]; Wang, Jieyu ^[2]; Petit, Donald ^[2]; Armstrong, Jason N. ^[2]; Hanson, Karen ^[3]; Hamilton, Jason ^[3]; Souza, Mauricio ^[3]; Zhao, Donghui ^[3]; Li, Changning ^[2]; Liu, Yuzi  ^[4]; Huang, Yulong ^[2]; Hu, Yong ^[2]; Li, Zheng ^[5]; Shao, Zefan ^[2]; Desjarlais, André Omer  ^[6]; Ren, Shenqiang  ^[2]

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1. State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY (United States); University at Buffalo
2. State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY (United States)
3. Unifrax Inc., Tonawanda, NY (United States)
4. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
5. State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY (United States); Nanjing Univ. of Aeronautics and Astronautics (China)
6. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

To exploit the high-temperature superinsulation potential of anisotropic thermal management materials, the incorporation of ceramic aerogel into the aligned structural networks is indispensable. Yet, the long-standing obstacle to exploring ultralight superinsulation ceramic aerogels is the inaccessibility of its mechanical elasticity, stability, and anisotropic thermal insulation. Here, we report a recoverable, flexible ceramic fiber-aerogel composite with anisotropic lamellar structure, where the interfacial cross-linking between ceramic fiber and aerogel is important in its superinsulation performance. The resulting ultralight aerogel composite exhibits a density of 0.05 g/cm³, large strain recovery (over 50%), and low thermal conductivity (0.0224 W m^–1 K^–1), while its hydrophobicity is achieved by in situ trichlorosilane coating with the water contact angle of 135°. The hygroscopic tests of such aerogel composites demonstrate a reversible thermal insulation. The mechanical elasticity and stability of the anisotropic composites, with its soundproof performance, shed light on the low-cost superelastic aerogel manufacturing with scalability for energy saving building applications.

• Research Organization: State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: EE0008675; AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1616276
• Journal Information: Nano Letters, Journal Name: Nano Letters Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 20; ISSN 1530-6984
• Publisher: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English