Novel Aerogel Spherules for Thermal Insulation Lining in Flame Environment

Abstract

Fire-fighting clothing is one of the important protective barriers for firefighters to avoid injury in rescue activities such as fires. Because of the high temperature in the fire field, fire-fighting clothing needs to have good thermal insulation performance. A new type of aerogel particle was prepared by aerogel powder, polyvinyl alcohol and water as a raw material. Experiments on the heat resistance of aerogel spherules under different flame ambient temperatures were carried out. It was found that the time required to increase the surface blackening of aerogel particles at the same test temperature was longer. With the increase of test temperature, the time required to increase the same blackening degree of aerogel spherules gradually decreases. When the test temperature is greater than 184.7 degrees, the degree of blackening of aerogel spherules appears 100%. The results of thermogravimetric test show that the mass loss rate of aerogel particles is the highest, from 99.7% to 89.2%, and the subsequent changes are gentle when the test temperature is 75.3 °C-246.5 °C. Finally, the results of electron microscope show that the structure of aerogel spheres is porous and the distribution of internal pores is relatively uniform, which can effectively reduce the heat conduction, heat convection and thermal radiation in flame environment. It is a new type of lining filling material with good thermal insulation performance.