Mechanical reinforcement of silica aerogel insulation with ceramic fibers

Silica aerogels doped with ceramic fibers were prepared successfully via sol-gel process with polyethoxydisiloxanes (E-40) as the silicon source. Surface modification was used to realize ambient pressure drying. The morphology, pore structure, mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the silica aerogels doped with ceramic fibers were investigated. The results show that the ceramic fibers were evenly distributed inside the silica aerogels to increase the mechanical property. The mechanical strength of the silica aerogels increases from 1.6 times 10⁴ pa to 9.6 times 10⁴ pa with the doping of 10% ceramic fibers, while the thermal conductivity is 0.029 w/mmiddotK at room temperature in air. The hydrophobic properties of the doped aerogels are improved a lot by surface modification.