Phenolic resin-based carbon aerogel composite reinforced by aluminum silicate ceramic fibers.

In this work, phenolic resin (PR) -based carbon aerogel composites reinforced with aluminum silicate ceramic fibers were obtained using the conventional sol-gel method with the carbonization technique. The experiment results showed that carbon aerogel with stable morphology was obtained by drying the PR wet gel at room temperature. Reactant ratios affected the microstructure and overall performance of carbon aerogels. The overall discharge capacity of the obtained carbon aerogel specimens was maintained at 330 mAh g⁻¹ when the mass ratio of phenolic resin to curing agent was 8:1. The growth of aerogel particles was guided during the curing reaction. A three-dimensional network structure with ceramic fibers as the core was formed in PR/CF. The ceramic fibers suppressed the shrinkage of the samples, and the ceramic fibers improved the mechanical properties of the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]