Journal of Textile Research ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (08): 217-224.doi: 10.13475/j.fzxb.20220307302

• Comprehensive Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research progress in flexible reinforced silica aerogels

LÜ Hongli1, LUO Lijuan2, SHI Jianjun2, ZHENG Zhenrong1(), LI Hongchen1   

  1. 1. School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
    2. Aerospace Research Institute of Materials & Processing Technology, Beijing 100076, China
  • Received:2022-03-21 Revised:2022-05-28 Online:2023-08-15 Published:2023-09-21

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Abstract:

Significance Silica aerogel is known as a super thermal insulation material due to its low density, high porosity, low thermal conductivity and strong design. It can be made into powder, microspheres, films and other forms of materials. These excellent properties make it widely used in heat insulation, adsorption, electromagnetic shielding, photocatalysis and other fields. The traditional silica aerogel preparation process is mature, but its network skeleton is slender and fragile offering poor mechanical properties, which seriously limits its applications. The research methods and the strategy for achieving flexible enhancement of silica aerogels are systematically reviewed, including the preparation process and material properties of different silica aerogels, aiming to establish thorough understanding of the design, preparation and applications of flexible aerogel materials for future development.

Progress Silica aerogels prepared by simple hydrophobic modification have slender skeleton and poor mechanical properties, which limits the allocation. At present, the flexible enhancement strategy is mainly divided into two aspects, i.e. component enhancement and process optimization. The technologies for organic group enhancement, polymer crosslinking and fiber enhancement are relatively mature. The simple blending of silicon sources containing organic groups can effectively increase the macromolecular chain segments and improve the compressive strength and elasticity of the material. When polymer crosslinking is used, the mechanical properties of aerogels are improved by introducing organic groups on the hydroxyl groups of silica aerogels and coating organic layers on the outer layer of the slender silicon skeleton. The active groups of different polymers can give different structures and properties of silica aerogels. When the fiber is used as the reinforcing phase, a more stable three-dimensional network can be formed by physical entanglement to improve the flexibility and structural stability of the aerogel composite. In terms of process optimization, two new processes of bionic drying technology and 3D printing technology are mainly introduced. Through detailed analysis of the problems existing in the flexible enhancement research, it is proposed that the component enhancement should be carried out by properly selecting the silane precursor and compounding it with organic polymer or fiber to construct a flexible network skeleton to create the regulation of chemical structure and network skeleton. In terms of process optimization, bionic drying technology has greater comprehensive advantages than atmospheric pressure drying. 3D printing technology can prepare a variety of geometric shapes of materials, which has potential application value for thermal insulation materials and medical fields.

Conclusion and Prospect The preparation of flexible aerogel composites with light heat insulation and good mechanical properties is the future development direction. In terms of component enhancement, the preparation process of organic group enhancement method is relatively simple and easy to achieve results, but the space for improvement is still limited because of the singular inorganic skeleton structure. The introduction of different polymers in the precursor solution can give aerogels different properties, and the study of the crosslinking mechanism is conducive to optimizing the enhancement process. It is feasible to use fibers with different characteristics as reinforcing phases. Different preparation processes can obtain aerogel fiber composites with different molding effects, which solves the problem of direct application of silicon-based aerogels. In terms of process optimization, exploring new bionic drying technology provides a new idea for the optimization of aerogel preparation process. It is worth noting that the new 3D printing technology can meet the design requirements of special material components. Finally, the breakthrough of ambient pressure drying technology, the development of polymer crosslinking or nanofiber reinforced preparation of flexible composite aerogels with orderly and controllable structure are prospected.

Key words: flexible reinforced, silica aerogels, thermal insulation, polymer cross-linking, structure control

CLC Number: 

  • O648.18

Fig. 1

Microstructure of porous SiO2 aerogels"

Fig. 2

Schematic diagram of bending and compression performance of SiO2aerogels. (a) Maximum flexion; (b) Compression performance"

Fig. 3

Atmospheric drying process(a) and biomimetic drying process(b) of aerogels"

Fig. 4

3D printed aerogel materials with high geometrical complexity. (a) Porous square; (b) Porous cylinder; (c) Porous anisotropic"

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