Join us at the International Thermal Conductivity Conference (ITCC) and the International Thermal Expansion Symposium (ITES).
The main objective of this research project was to create a material with a very low thermal conductivity at high temperatures, for the conservation of energy in high temperature systems. To accomplish this goal, the researchers incorporated carbon nanofibers into the mesoporous network of monolithic aerogels, with up to a 20 wt.% through an accelerated-gelation sol-gel process. The synthesis process also involved the use of supercritical drying of the aerogels to ...
A one step polymer-incorporation sol-gel process coupled with a surface modification and ambient pressure drying process was developed to synthesize silica-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) composites aerogels. The properties that were investigated were: hydrophobicity, mechanical strength and thermal conductivity at high temperatures. The authors envisioned the use of these polymer composites in energy saving areas with large scale production....
Monolithic silica aerogels were synthesized with very low thermal conductivity (0.036 W/mK) and high porosity (97%) via ambient pressure drying. This method of drying replaces supercritical drying which is more costly and dangerous. The aerogel was derived from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and treatment with trimethylchlorosilane. NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy were used for characterization of surface bonding and contact angles. Using the multiple surface modification (MSM) method allowed the authors to generate an ...
