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Study on pore structure and thermal conductivity of aerogel enhanced porous geopolymers

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Abstract

Aerogel is a kind of nanoscopic materials aggregated from thermal insulating material with its thermal properties substantially enhanced. Considering the high price, a small amount of aerogel (0 –8 mass%) has been added into geopolymer pastes to produce aerogel-enhanced porous geopolymers (APG) with thermal conductivity < 0.055 W·(m·K)−1. The effects of aerogel on viscosity, geopolymerization, stability, bulk density, mechanical and thermal properties of geopolymers have been studied. Results show that the addition of aerogel increases the viscosity of APG pastes and aerogel could stably exist in APG without reacting with alkaline activator within. Due to its frangibility, overdosed aerogel (> 8 mass%) would result in a decline of compressive (σ) and flexural strength (δ) of APG to lower than 0.3 MPa and 0.2 MPa, respectively. However, a desired content of aerogel (about 6 mass%) could reduce the thermal conductivity (λ) of APG to 0.05 W· (m · K)−1 and keep the mechanical properties satisfying the standard of JC/T 2200-2013 (σ > 0.3 MPa and δ > 0.2 MPa for 180 kg · m−3) in the same time. The heat transfer simulation indicates that aerogel could enhance the thermal resistance of APG in a temperature difference of 25 °C.

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Funding

This research was funded by the scientific and technological projects of Shanxi Province (MC2014-04) and the open fund of Key Laboratory of Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Duanle Li

  2. School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, 100083, China

    Duanle Li, Dongmin Wang & Yong Cui

Authors
  1. Duanle Li
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  2. Dongmin Wang
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  3. Yong Cui
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Contributions

Conceptualization, DW.; methodology, DW. and DL.; writing—original draft preparation, DL. and YC.; writing—review and editing, DL. and DW.; supervision, DW.. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dongmin Wang.

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Li, D., Wang, D. & Cui, Y. Study on pore structure and thermal conductivity of aerogel enhanced porous geopolymers. J Therm Anal Calorim 147, 1061–1070 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10389-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10389-4

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