Thermochemical Properties of Glass Wool/Maerogel Composites

Bahador Dastorian Jamnani,Amin Shavandi,Mohd Roshdi Hassan,Soraya Hosseini

doi:10.1155/2016/6014874

Bahador Dastorian Jamnani, Amin Shavandi + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/6014874

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Abstract

Aerogel blankets are composites of silica aerogel particles dispersed in a reinforcing fiber matrix that turns the brittle aerogel into durable and flexible insulating materials. In this study, silica aerogel was loaded on glass wool with different concentrations (0–18.6%) and morphological and thermal characteristics of the aerogel blankets were studied. Rate of modified blanket decomposition was slower at temperatures between 250°C and 650°C due to the retardant effect of the silica aerogel. The average diameter of the fiber for either original glass wool or modified glass wool materials was approximately 20 μm and samples had porous, interconnected particles with dendritic-like structure.

Highlights

With the continuous rise in energy consumption, limited supply of fossil fuels, global warming, and climate issues, both governments and industry sectors are looking for alternative or improved thermal systems by employing high performance insulation materials
An aerogel can be manufactured in powder, monoliths, or films, the design of composite aerogel blankets, which consists of dispersing the silica aerogel particles into a reinforcing fiber matrix, eventually prevents any damage to the brittle aerogel matrix and so allows it to be applied into the extreme surroundings where mechanical loads are significant
Case 4 contains the highest loaded Maerogel (18.6 wt%) that could be possible on the blanket; it was considered as the optimum sample or modified glass wool (MGW) and is selected for comparison with original glass wool (OGW)

Summary

Introduction

With the continuous rise in energy consumption, limited supply of fossil fuels, global warming, and climate issues, both governments and industry sectors are looking for alternative or improved thermal systems by employing high performance insulation materials. Aerogel, invented by Kistler [1] in 1932, is one of the insulation materials which are yet to be exploited onto the industrial level. In 2007, an aerogel, commercially known as Maerogel, derived from an agricultural waste product, was invented; thereby the silica was extracted from rice husk ash followed by a sol-gel mechanism and supercritical drying [5]. Glass wool/Maerogel, nonwoven composites were synthesized by a sol-gel approach followed by both ambient and high-temperature heat treatments. The thermal and morphological properties of the samples were investigated

Experimental Details

Results and Discussion

Conclusion