Layered La2Zr2O7 flexible fibrous membrane for super thermal insulation and infrared stealth

Abstract

La2Zr2O7 fibrous membrane (LZFM), with high uniform distribution and single phase, was fabricated by sol–gel method combined electrospinning technique and the precursor of lanthanum zirconium bimetallic complex, polyacetylacetone lanthanum-zirconium (PALZ) with the ceramic yield of 57.8% was synthesized for the first time. The LZFM had high heat radiation reflectivity (750–2500 nm: Avg 93.2%@1200 °C), low thermal conductivity (25.4 mW·m−1·K−1@-40 °C, 57.5 mW·m−1·K−1@1000 °C), low density (28–50 mg/cm3) and excellent flexibility until 1300 °C. The grain arrangement on the fiber surface was tight with no obvious defects and pores, and the average grain size was only 47.1 nm at 1000 °C for 8 h. The LZFM exhibited excellent high-temperature insulation performance using silicon carbide rod and butane flame as the heat source up to 1530 °C and 1400 °C, respectively. Furthermore, the layered assemblage of LZFM and Al foil was designed, serving as a thermal insulation layer, low-infrared-emission, and high-infrared-reflection layer. The combined structure effectively hid high-temperature targets and achieved infrared stealth (>1300 °C). From the above results, one could find that the LZFM possessed a super high-temperature insulation effect with high thermal stealth performance, implying that LZFM will have a good prospect in thermal insulation protection and infrared stealth.