Thermal analysis of aerogels and their vacuum-formed forms, their potential uses, and their effects on the environment

Abstract

The main topic of the paper is to investigate the thermal examination of aerogels and their vacuumed forms, application possibilities, and environmental impact. In the paper, the thermal conductivity of homemade vacuum insulation panels was tested with different silica-based core materials. Three types of fibrous aerogel materials were used as core materials; another silica-based microporous insulation was used as a filling material. Microscopic images were taken from the core materials; furthermore, the thermal conductivities of both base materials and their vacuumed form were also tested at different mean temperatures (0, 10 and 20 °C). The results regarding the applicability of these materials as filling-core materials for vacuum insulation panels are interesting. The results showed that for microtherm and pyrogel, the thermal conductivities decreased more than 15%, while for the spaceloft and slentex it was about 8 and 2%, respectively, after evacuating the air. The paper also presents compressibility changes of the samples after vacuumization. The results were used as a basis for building energetic calculations; furthermore, the comparison of different materials from their carbon footprint point of view was also presented. These calculations depicted aerogel's very long payback time with a current market price.