An All-Ceramic, Anisotropic, and Flexible Aerogel Insulation Material
Lu An, Jie‐Yu Wang, Donald Petit, Jason N. Armstrong, Karen Hanson, Jason Hamilton, Mauricio Lima Souza, Donghui Zhao, Changning Li, Yuzi Liu, Yulong Huang, Yong Hu, Zheng Li, Zefan Shao, André Omer Desjarlais, Shenqiang Ren
Abstract
To exploit the high-temperature superinsulation potential of anisotropic thermal management materials, the incorporation of ceramic aerogel into the aligned structural networks is indispensable. However, the long-standing obstacle to exploring ultralight superinsulation ceramic aerogels is the inaccessibility of its mechanical elasticity, stability, and anisotropic thermal insulation. In this study, 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.