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Strong yet flexible ceramic aerogel

Author

Listed:
  • Lei Su

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Shuhai Jia

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Junqiang Ren

    (Lanzhou University of Technology)

  • Xuefeng Lu

    (Lanzhou University of Technology)

  • Sheng-Wu Guo

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Pengfei Guo

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Zhixin Cai

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • De Lu

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Min Niu

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Lei Zhuang

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Kang Peng

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Hongjie Wang

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

Abstract

Ceramic aerogels are highly efficient, lightweight, and chemically stable thermal insulation materials but their application is hindered by their brittleness and low strength. Flexible nanostructure-assembled compressible aerogels have been developed to overcome the brittleness but they still show low strength, leading to insufficient load-bearing capacity. Here we designed and fabricated a laminated SiC-SiOx nanowire aerogel that exhibits reversible compressibility, recoverable buckling deformation, ductile tensile deformation, and simultaneous high strength of up to an order of magnitude larger than other ceramic aerogels. The aerogel also shows good thermal stability ranging from −196 °C in liquid nitrogen to above 1200 °C in butane blow torch, and good thermal insulation performance with a thermal conductivity of 39.3 ± 0.4 mW m−1 K−1. These integrated properties make the aerogel a promising candidate for mechanically robust and highly efficient flexible thermal insulation materials.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Su & Shuhai Jia & Junqiang Ren & Xuefeng Lu & Sheng-Wu Guo & Pengfei Guo & Zhixin Cai & De Lu & Min Niu & Lei Zhuang & Kang Peng & Hongjie Wang, 2023. "Strong yet flexible ceramic aerogel," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-42703-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42703-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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