Micro-nano Ceramic Fibers for High Temperature Thermal Insulation

doi:10.15541/jim20200220

Abstract

Abstract:

Ceramic fiber has the advantages of low density, high strength, high temperature resistance and good mechanical vibration resistance. It is the critical high temperature thermal insulation materials especially in thermal protection fields such as aerospace vehicles, nuclear power plants and chemo-metallurgical industry, etc. The traditional ceramic fiber with large diameter (> 5 μm), high brittleness and high thermal conductivity has been greatly restricted in high temperature thermal insulation fields. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the preparation of micro-nano ceramic fibers by decreasing the diameter of fiber, which is not only beneficial to improve the mechanical properties of the fibers, but also to enhance their high temperature thermal insulation properties. Further, by finely regulating the composition and structure of the micro-nano ceramic fibers that intrinsically affecting the heat transfer (heat conduction of gas, heat conduction of solid and radiative heat transfer) mechanism in micro-nano ceramic fibers, the high temperature thermal insulation performance can be effectively improved, which is the current focus of the micro-nano ceramic fibers in high temperature thermal insulation fields. The thermal insulation mechanism of the micro-nano ceramic fibers was firstly introduced. Then, based on the research at home and abroad, this review divides the current micro-nano ceramic fibers into three categories according to the difference of their composition and structure, namely fibers aerogels, hollow/porous fibers and composite fibers. The latest research progress on composition and structure optimization of micro-nano ceramic fibers for high temperature thermal insulation is reviewed, and the future development tendency is prospected.

Key words: micro-nano ceramic fiber, high temperature thermal insulation, structural optimization, fiber aerogel, hollow fiber, composite fiber, review

CLC Number:

TQ343

ZHANG Xiaoshan, WANG Bing, WU Nan, HAN Cheng, WU Chunzhi, WANG Yingde. Micro-nano Ceramic Fibers for High Temperature Thermal Insulation[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2021, 36(3): 245-256.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig. 1 Schematic of development trend of the micro-nano ceramic fiber

Fig. 2 Schematic of micro-nano fiber heat conduction (a), effect of fiber diameter on thermal conductivity of carbon nanofiber at different testing temperatures (b), and transmittance values for fibers with different fiber diameters at different operating temperatures (c)[13,21]

Fig. 3 SiO2 and SiC nanofiber aerogel[7-8,37] (a,d) SEM images of SiO2 nanofiber aerogel; (b) Infrared thermal image; (c) Compression stress-strain; (e) Compression test under high temperature; (f) Thermal conductivity comparison; (g) SEM image of SiC nanofiber aerogel; (h) Optical photo of thermal insulation performance of SiC nanofiber aerogel; (i) Compression stress-strain of SiC nanofiber aerogel

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of heat conduction of hollow fiber

Fig. 5 Hollow micro-nano ceramic fiber[44,48] (a) Surface and cross section SEM images of hollow ZrO2 fiber; (b) Comparison of thermal conductivity between hollow ZrO2 fiber and traditional ZrO2 fiber; (c) Surface and cross section SEM images of hollow Al2O3 fiber; (d) Thermal conductivity comparison among hollow Al2O3 fiber aerogel and other materials

Fig. 6 Hollow carbon micro-nano fiber aerogel[49] (a) Schematic illustration of the fabrication processes; (b) TEM image; (c) Stress-strain curves for 10000 cycles; (d) Thermal conductivity comparison among different hollow-structured thermally insulating materials

Fig. 7 Hollow and porous micro-nano fiber[51-52,54] (a) SEM image of N-doped hollow SiC fiber; (b) SEM image of hollow SiC fiber; (c)SEM image of porous SiO2-TiO2 fiber; (d) Thermal conductivities and thermal diffusivities of N-doped hollow SiC fiber; (e) Thermal conductivities of solid SiC fiber and hollow SiC fiber; (f) SEM image of SiO2-ZrO2 fiber

Fig. 8 Schematic of infrared radiation transmission in the fiber

Table 1 Preparation method and coating types of high-reflectivity coated fiber

Fiber	Method	Infrared reflectance layer	Coating thickness/μm	Ref.
Al₂O₃	Dip-coating	TiO₂, TiO₂/SiO₂/TiO₂, TiO₂-Pt	-	[64]
SiO₂	Dip-coating	ITO, ITO/Ag/ITO	~0.2	[60,65]
ZrO₂	Hydrothermal	CeO₂	52-214	[66]
Mullite	Hydrothermal	TiO₂	-	[67]
ZrO₂	Hydrothermal	TiO₂	89-236	[68]
Mullite	Dip-coating	SiC	~0.8	[69]

Fig. 9 High-reflectivity coated fiber[66-67,69] (a) SEM image of ZrO2 fiber with CeO2 coating; (b) SEM image of mullite fiber with TiO2 coating; (c) SEM image of mullite fiber with SiC coating; (d) Specific extinction coefficients comparison of ZrO2 fiber and CeO2/ZrO2 fiber; (e) Specific extinction coefficients comparison of mullite fiber and TiO2/mullite fiber; (f) Thermal conductivity comparison of mullite fiber and SiC/mullite fiber reinforced aerogel composite

Fig. 10 Composite micro-nano ceramic fiber[14,70] (a) Schematic illustration of the preparation of ZrO2/SiC fiber; (b) TEM images of ZrO2/SiC fiber; (c) SEM images of SiZrOC fiber; (d) Thermal conductivity comparison of SiZrOC fiber with other ceramic fibers; (e) Schematic illustration of thermal insulation mechanisms of SiZrOC fibers

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