Thermal shock protection with scalable heat-absorbing aerogels
Feng Xiong, Jiawei Zhou, Yongkang Jin, Zitao Zhang, Mulin Qin, Haiwei Han, Zhenghui Shen, Shenghui Han, Xiaoye Geng, Kaihang Jia, Ruqiang Zou
Abstract
Improving thermal insulation is vital for addressing thermal protection and energy efficiency challenges. Though silica aerogel has a record-low thermal conductivity at ambient pressure, its high production cost, due to its nanoscale porous structure, has hindered its widespread use. In this study, we introduce a cost-effective and mild method that enhances insulation by incorporating phase change materials (PCMs) into a micron-porous framework. With a thermal conductivity at 0.041 W m−1K−1 on par with conventional insulation materials, this PCMs aerogel presents additional advantages for thermal protection from transient high-temperature loads by effectively delaying heat propagation through heat absorption. Moreover, the PCMs aerogel remains stable under cyclic deformation and heating up to 300 °C and is self-extinguishing in the presence of fire. Our approach offers a promising alternative for affordable insulation materials with potential wide applications in thermal protection and energy conservation areas. The authors report a cost-effective and scalable approach encapsulating phase change materials into micron-porous aerogels to realize phase change materials with enhanced thermal shock resistance comparable to that of nano-porous aerogels