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Research Article

High temperature ceramic thermal insulation material

Lu An1, Jason N. Armstrong1, Yong Hu1, Yulong Huang1, Zheng Li1, Donghui Zhao2, Jesse Sokolow2, Zipeng Guo3, Chi Zhou3, Shenqiang Ren1,4,5()
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
Unifrax Inc., Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
RENEW Institute, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
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Graphical Abstract

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The mechanically strong and flexible ceramic aerogel thermal insulation nanocomposites with the density/porosity control by thermally compression, together with its soundproof performance, superhydrophobic coating, and high temperature resistance, shed light on flexible high-temperature thermal insulation applications under high mechanical loading conditions.

Abstract

Flexible and lightweight thermal insulation materials with hierarchical microstructures are ubiquitous in thermal management and protection systems. Ceramic aerogels promise high-temperature thermal insulation but lack mechanical robustness, while the fibrous materials with excellent mechanical elasticity display modest thermal insulation. Here we describe flexible hierarchical superhydrophobic ceramic insulation nanocomposites through the densified architectured hierarchical nanostructures, radiative insulation coating, and interfacial cross-linking among composites. The lightweight flexible ceramic nanocomposites exhibit a density of 0.13 g/cm3, high-temperature fire resistance with thermal conductivity of 0.024 W/(m·K), and super-hydrophobicity with the water contact angle of 152°. The mechanical robustness and high-temperature thermal insulation of ceramic nanocomposites, together with its soundproof performance, shed light on the low-cost flexible insulation materials manufacturing with scalability for high-temperature thermal insulation applications under high mechanical loading conditions.

Keywords

thermal insulationmechanical robustnesssuper-hydrophobicitynanocomposites

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Nano Research
Volume 15 Issue 7,
July 2022
Pages 6662-6669
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4214-9
Cite this article:
An L, Armstrong JN, Hu Y, et al. High temperature ceramic thermal insulation material. Nano Research, 2022, 15(7): 6662-6669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4214-9
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