Flexible SiC nanowire aerogel with excellent thermal insulation properties. Issue 15 (1st August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liang, Xianpeng; Shao, Zhuojie; Wu, Zhen; Wang, Jingyang
• Is Part Of: Ceramics international. Volume 48:Issue 15(2022)
• Page Start: 22213
• Page End: 22219
• Publication Date: 2022-08-01
• Subjects: SiC Nanowire aerogel -- Freeze-drying -- High temperature resistance -- Flexible -- Thermal insulation material; Ceramics -- Periodicals; Céramique industrielle -- Périodiques; Ceramics; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 666
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2022.04.218
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-8842

Abstract

Abstract: Aerogels are excellent thermal insulation materials with extremely low thermal conductivity. However, the practical applications of traditional oxide aerogels, such as SiO2 and Al2 O3 aerogels, are limited by the disadvantages of easy sintering and intrinsic brittleness. SiC is a good candidate for new aerogel due to its superior stability and good properties from room to high temperatures. However, it is generally supposed that SiC cannot be employed as thermal insulation material because of its high intrinsic thermal conductivity. We herein developed SiC nanowire aerogel with quite low thermal conductivity using freeze-drying method. The fabricated SiC nanowire aerogel exhibits ultra-high porosity (∼99.5%), excellent high-temperature stability (∼1700 °C), extremely low thermal conductivity (0.035 W/(m⋅K)) and good compressive flexibility. The low thermal conductivity is resulted from ultra-high porosity and multi-level nanostructures. Flexible compression behavior is attributed to the capability of moving and buckling of SiC nanowires, originating from both ultra-high porosity and strong connection between nanowires. This exploration highlights the flexible SiC nanowire aerogel as a promising high temperature thermal insulation material.