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Novel Kevlar® pulp-reinforced alumina-silica aerogel composites for thermal insulation at high temperature

  • Original Paper: Nano- and macroporous materials (aerogels, xerogels, cryogels, etc.)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Novel promising thermal insulator materials based on alumina-silica aerogel composites reinforced with Kevlar® pulp were prepared using less hazardous base catalysts and ambient pressure drying procedures. The base formulation included tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) as silica precursors and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDZ) was used for the silylation of the composites. The incorporation of alumina phase in the aerogels was performed through aluminium chloride (AlCl3) or aluminium trisec-butoxide (ATSB) precursors, replacing a small part of Si (up to 15 mol%) by Al. For system optimisation, several parameters that could influence the key properties (bulk density, thermal conductivity and thermal stability) of the aerogel were investigated, namely the base catalysts, the washing and the heat treatment conditions. All the composites prepared were highly hydrophobic and their properties depended on the aluminium precursor used and its content. The most promising composites were those based on AlCl3, which achieved low bulk density and thermal conductivity values, down to 120 kg m−3 and 28 mW m−1 K−1 (Hot Disk®), and they were thermally stable up to 550 °C, indicating their suitability for thermal insulation applications in more harsh environments.

Highlights

  • Novel Kevlar pulp-reinforced alumina-silica aerogels with different precursors.

  • Nanocomposites´ properties are dependent on the alumina precursor and amount.

  • Optimization of post-processing of the gels different catalysts and solvents.

  • Heat treatment improves the thermal stability and mechanical resistance of aerogels.

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Data Availability

The data used in this manuscript will be available upon request to the corresponding authors.

Code availability

This work does not involve the development of software or computational codes.

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Funding

This work was developed under the project AeroXTreme (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-029533)—High-performance silica aerogel nanocomposites for insulation under extreme temperature Space environments, co-funded by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through Centro 2020 — Regional Operational Program of the Centre of Portugal. This work was also supported by national funds from FCT — Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the projects UIDB/EQU/00102/2020, UIDP/EQU/00102/2020, UIDB/04564/2020 and UIDP/04564/2020. Access to TAIL-UC facility funded under QREN-Mais Centro Project No. ICT_2009_02_012_1890 is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Coimbra, CIEPQPF, Department of Chemical Engineering, 3030-790, Coimbra, Portugal

    Mariana E. Ghica, Cláudio M. R. Almeida, Laura S. D. Rebelo, Gabriel C. Cathoud-Pinheiro & Luisa Durães

  2. University of Coimbra, CFisUC, Physics Department, 3004-516, Coimbra, Portugal

    Benilde F. O. Costa

Authors
  1. Mariana E. Ghica
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  2. Cláudio M. R. Almeida
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  3. Laura S. D. Rebelo
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  4. Gabriel C. Cathoud-Pinheiro
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  5. Benilde F. O. Costa
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  6. Luisa Durães
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Correspondence to Mariana E. Ghica or Luisa Durães.

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Ghica, M.E., Almeida, C.M.R., Rebelo, L.S.D. et al. Novel Kevlar® pulp-reinforced alumina-silica aerogel composites for thermal insulation at high temperature. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 101, 87–102 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05692-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05692-x

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