Facile fabrication of robustly resilient, fire retardant, and thermal insulating graphene/polydimethylsiloxane aerogel composites by an interface-mediated strategy

Abstract

It is desirable but challenging to improve the mechanical robustness and flame retardancy of graphene aerogels while simultaneously remaining their highly elastic and insulating performances. Herein, a modified foaming and emulsifying strategy based on the gas/oil-water interfacial stabilization of graphene oxide nanosheets was established for the fabrication of graphene/polydimethylsiloxane aerogel composites (GPACs) with unique multi-interface networks. Thanks to the distinct in-situ introduction manner of polydimethylsiloxane, the resultant GPACs demonstrated super elasticity (recovery ratio of 100% under >90% strain), high compressive strength (1.8 MPa, 70 times higher than the bubble-derived graphene aerogel), exceptional mechanical robustness (1000 trials of non-isostatic pressing by hands and fingers), ultra-high-temperature flame retardancy (1300 °C), excellent thermal insulation (thermal conductivity of 0.026 W/(m·K)) and low density (0.074 g/cm3). We believe that the high-performance GPACs stand out among the existing graphene aerogels and their composites with regard to various practical applications such as thermal insulation, fire resistance, environmental protection, and pressure sensors.