Highly compressible and anisotropic lamellar ceramic sponges with superior thermal insulation and acoustic absorption performances

Chao Jia,Ben Fang,He Ding,Wenjie Si,Sen Lin,Yibo Liu,Bo Li,Ziwei Li,Hui Wu,Lei Li,Dongze Wang,Xiaoding Wei,Ying Liu,Jianan Song,Kejia Xiang,Xing Sheng

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17533-6

Abstract

Advanced ceramic sponge materials with temperature-invariant high compressibility are urgently needed as thermal insulators, energy absorbers, catalyst carriers, and high temperature air filters. However, the application of ceramic sponge materials is severely limited due to their complex preparation process. Here, we present a facile method for large-scale fabrication of highly compressible, temperature resistant SiO2-Al2O3 composite ceramic sponges by blow spinning and subsequent calcination. We successfully produce anisotropic lamellar ceramic sponges with numerous stacked microfiber layers and density as low as 10 mg cm−3. The anisotropic lamellar ceramic sponges exhibit high compression fatigue resistance, strain-independent zero Poisson’s ratio, robust fire resistance, temperature-invariant compression resilience from −196 to 1000 °C, and excellent thermal insulation with a thermal conductivity as low as 0.034 W m−1 K−1. In addition, the lamellar structure also endows the ceramic sponges with excellent sound absorption properties, representing a promising alternative to existing thermal insulation and acoustic absorption materials.

Highlights

Advanced ceramic sponge materials with temperature-invariant high compressibility are urgently needed as thermal insulators, energy absorbers, catalyst carriers, and high temperature air filters
By virtue of these characteristics, ceramic sponge materials have been widely used in a variety of fields, including thermal insulation, water treatment, as catalyst carriers, for energy absorption, and for high-temperature air filtration[13,21,22,23,24]
We developed an anisotropic lamellar SiO2–Al2O3 composite ceramic sponge (SAC sponge) with temperatureinvariant high compressibility using a sol-gel solution blow spinning technique followed by calcination

Summary

Introduction

Advanced ceramic sponge materials with temperature-invariant high compressibility are urgently needed as thermal insulators, energy absorbers, catalyst carriers, and high temperature air filters. The anisotropic lamellar ceramic sponges exhibit high compression fatigue resistance, strain-independent zero Poisson’s ratio, robust fire resistance, temperatureinvariant compression resilience from −196 to 1000 °C, and excellent thermal insulation with a thermal conductivity as low as 0.034 W m−1 K−1. Ceramic sponge materials have attracted more interest owing to their lightweight feature, high specific surface area, low thermal conductivity, and excellent chemical and thermal stability[13,14,19,20]. The layered structure and ceramic components provide the SAC sponges with robust fire resistance, temperature-invariant compression resilience from −196 °C to 1000 °C, and excellent thermal insulation property with a thermal conductivity as low as 0.034 W m−1 K−1. The developed anisotropic lamellar SAC sponges with temperature-invariant high compressibility represent a promising alternative to current brittle materials used in the fields of thermal insulation and acoustic absorption

Methods

Results

Conclusion