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Development of Light, Strong, and Water-Resistant PVA Composite Aerogels

Authors :
Amir Abdolazizi
Ishara Wijesinghe
Ifra Marriam
Hiran Chathuranga
Dmitri Golberg
Cheng Yan
Source :
Nanomaterials, Vol 14, Iss 9, p 745 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

A significant weakness of many organic and inorganic aerogels is their poor mechanical behaviour, representing a great impediment to their application. For example, polymer aerogels generally have higher ductility than silica aerogels, but their elastic modulus is considered too low. Herein, we developed extremely low loading (3 and a thermal conductivity of only 0.035 W/m·K, it outperforms many commercial insulators and foams. As compared to a pure PVA polymer aerogel, a 170% increase in storage modulus is obtained by adding only 0.6 wt% GO nanosheets. The nanocomposite aerogel demonstrates strong fire resistance, with a 50% increase in burning time and little smoke discharge. After surface modification with 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane, the aerogel demonstrates water resistance, which is suitable for outdoor applications in which it would be exposed to precipitation. Our research demonstrates a new pathway for considerable improvement in the performance and application of polymer aerogels.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20794991
Volume :
14
Issue :
9
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Nanomaterials
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.23bd2f6a4404a3b88dbe3bafec42ef9
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14090745