Aerogel with low
density, high porosity, and large surface area
is a promising structure for the next generation of high-performance
thermal insulation fibers and textiles. However, aerogel fibers suffer
from weak mechanical properties or complex fabricating processes.
Herein, a facile wet-spinning approach for fabricating nanofibrous
Kevlar (KNF) aerogel threads (i.e., aerogel fibers)
with high thermal insulation under extreme environments is demonstrated.
The aerogel fibers made from nanofibrous Kevlar render a high specific
surface area (240 m2/g) and wide-temperature thermal stability.
The flexible and strong KNF aerogel fibers are woven into textiles
to illustrate the excellent thermal insulation property under extreme
temperature (−196 or +300 °C) and at room temperature.
COMSOL simulation is applied to calculate the thermal conductivity
of a single aerogel fiber and find an effective way to improve the
thermal insulation property of the aerogel fiber. Furthermore, a series
of functionalized fibers or textiles based on KNF aerogel fibers,
such as phase-change fibers, conductive fibers, and hydrophobic textiles,
have been prepared. Such KNF aerogel fibers represent a promising
direction for the next generation of high-performance fibrous thermal-insulation
materials.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.