A team of researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology, in China, working with a colleague in the U.S., has developed a new kind of aerogel for use in flexible thermal insulation material applications.

Figure 1. a nanocrystals ceramic aerogel to use in thermal insultation applications.

Figure 1 shows that the researchers have developed a method for making a ceramic based aerogel that can be used in flexible applications and also does not break down when exposed to very high temperatures. [1]

To create their aerogel, the researchers took a novel approach — they pushed a zirconium-silicon precursor, using a plastic syringe, into a chamber with turbulent airflow — an electrospinning approach that produced a ceramic material that resembled cotton candy. They then folded the resulting material into a zig-zag pattern and heated it to 1100 ° C. Heating it in such a way changed the texture of the material from a glassy state to a nanocrystal.

A study of the resulting material using a spectroscope showed that their approach had resulted in the creation of a material with nanocrystalline bits embedded in an amorphous zircon matrix — a flexible aerogel made using a ceramic that was not prone to breaking down under high temperatures. [2]

The researchers conducted several tests of their material. In one, they heated an aero plane engine fuel tube with a butane blowtorch. After five minutes, a tube insulated with a commercial polyimide foam barrier reached 267°C, whereas one protected by a conventional silica fibrous aerogel hit 159°C.

By contrast, the new aerogel kept the temperature below 33°C. The researchers believe the material could find a variety of applications ranging from firefighters’ clothing to thermal insulation for spacecraft and detectors deep underground.

‘The work is indeed a nice and important contribution for ceramic aerogels in extreme conditions,’ says Shenqiang Ren of the University of Buffalo in the US. He believes the design ‘could inspire the development of next-generation extreme materials.

‘The most impressive part of this work includes its near-zero … thermal expansion coefficient in a broad temperature range, as a result from its architecture zig-zag design and hypo crystalline nanomaterial nature. More importantly, the manufacturing process is relatively straightforward and potentially scalable as well.’ [3]

References:

1. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-ceramic-aerogel-nanocrystals-embedded-matrix.html
2. https://alpes-holidays.com/a-ceramic-aerogel-made-with-nanocrystals-and-embedded-in-a-matrix-for-use-in-thermal-insulation-applications/
3. https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/highly-stable-aerogel-could-protect-firefighters-and-spacecraft-from-extreme-heat/4015886.article

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), A New Form of Ceramic Aerogel for Thermal Insulation Applications, AnaTechMaz, pp.113