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Synthesis of Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels with low thermal conductivity and high strength by methyltriethoxysilane as a silica precursor

  • Original Paper: Nano- and macroporous materials (aerogels, xerogels, cryogels, etc.)
  • Published:
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this work, Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels with low thermal conductivity and high strength were prepared using methyltriethoxysilane (MTES) as a silica precursor through the sol-gel method and high-temperature calcination. The effects of silica precursor on the thermal conductivity, chemical structure, and pore structure of aerogel as well as the effects of calcination temperature on the thermal conductivity, and mechanical properties of aerogel were investigated. The results indicated that MTES can reduce thermal conductivity by changing the microstructure of aerogel compared with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The subsequent high-temperature calcination can further reduce thermal conductivity and improve mechanical properties. The prepared Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels have the characteristics of low thermal conductivity and high strength compared with previous reports. The Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels using MTES as silica precursor and calcined at 800 °C exhibited a density of 0.220 g/cm3, low thermal conductivity of 0.0232 W/(m·K), and a high compressive modulus of 74.29 MPa. In addition, the introduction of MTES can inhibit the sintering and phase transformation of alumina aerogel, and then improve the heat resistance of alumina aerogel. The specific surface areas of Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels before heat treatment, heat-treated at 1000 °C and heat-treated at 1200 °C are 639.68 m2/g, 337.28 m2/g, and 90.67 m2/g, respectively. This work provides a novel method for Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels to reduce thermal conductivity and improve mechanical properties.

Graphical Abstract

This work proposes a novel method to fabricate low thermal conductivity and high strength Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels by simultaneously using MTES as silica precursor and high-temperature calcination. The MTES with inert functional group reduces the shrinkage of aerogels in the preparation process and changes the microstructure of aerogels, then reduces the thermal conductivity of aerogels. High-temperature calcination can further reduces the thermal conductivity and improves the strength Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels by reducing the size of macropores and strengthening the neck. The density, thermal conductivity at room temperature, and Young’s modulus of the as prepared semitransparent and monolithic Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels are 0.220 g/cm3, 0.0232 W/(m·K) and 74.29 MPa, respectively. Compared with the related reports, the prepared Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels has the characteristics of low thermal conductivity and high strength.

Highlights

  • Compared with TEOS, Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels with MTES as silica precursor have lower thermal conductivity.

  • High-temperature calcination can improve mechanical resistance and reduces the thermal conductivity of Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels.

  • The addition of MTES can improve the heat resistance of Al2O3 aerogel.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12172229) for their financial.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12172229).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Advanced Structure Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guoqi Li, Kai Zhang, Sifan Hou & Jinpeng Fan

  2. Shanghai Aerospace Systems Engineering Institute, Shanghai, 201108, China

    Li Hu

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Guoqi Li, Li Hu, Kai Zhang, Sifan Hou and Jinpeng Fan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Guoqi Li and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jinpeng Fan.

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Li, G., Hu, L., Zhang, K. et al. Synthesis of Al2O3-SiO2 aerogels with low thermal conductivity and high strength by methyltriethoxysilane as a silica precursor. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 108, 35–46 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-023-06164-0

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