Investigation of fibre-modified silica aerogel composites

Abstract This investigation evaluates the thermal and mechanical performance of fibre-reinforced silica aerogel composites by introducing an optimised fabrication process and vacuumization. The novelty of this investigation was the identification of the minimum amount of solvent being used to synthesise aerogel, as well as the introduction of temperature ageing (45 °C). These provide a valuable guide for lowering the fabricating cost with optimised properties of aerogel composites. The glass fibre (GF)–aerogel composites obtained from the optimised process showed excellent thermal conductivity (18.4 mW m −1 K −1 at a pressure load of 2 psi (13.8 kPa)). It is worth mentioning that vacuum sealing of the aerogel composites not only prevents dustiness during handling but also improves the thermal performance. The thermal conductivity could be further reduced to 13.8 mW m −1 K −1 by vacuum sealing the GF–aerogel composite. The compression and bending tests proved that the aerogel composites could endure considerable compressive and flexural strain without structural destruction. These outstanding characteristics indicate that GF–aerogel composites have great potential in the thermal insulation field, especially for a moderate temperature environment (i.e., less than 800 °C).