Compressive Resilience Mechanism of SiO2 Nanofibre Aerogels

doi:10.15541/jim20250038

Abstract

Abstract:

SiO₂ aerogels possess low density, ultralow thermal conductivity and excellent chemical stability, endowing them suitable for wide application in the fields of aviation/aerospace, building energy conservation, and energy chemical industry. Traditional SiO₂ nanoparticle aerogels have large brittleness and poor resilience due to their pearl necklace-like particle structure. Using nanofibers as construction units to fabricate SiO₂ nanofiber aerogels can overcome these shortcomings to some extent. However, the resilience mechanism of SiO₂ nanofiber aerogels is still unclear, which limits further improvement in their mechanical properties. Here, flexible SiO₂ nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning to investigate the effect of calcination temperature on phase microstructure to elucidate flexibility mechanism. Subsequently, SiO₂ nanofiber aerogels were fabricated by freeze drying. The influence of solid content on the pore structure, strength and resilience of aerogels was studied. A buckling deformation model based on effective nanofiber length was established to explain the compressive resilience mechanism. The findings show that calcination temperature affects the amorphous structure and flexibility of SiO₂ nanofibers. Degree of short-range order in SiO₂ increases with the increase in calcination temperature, leading to poor flexibility of nanofibers, while resilience of SiO₂ nanofiber aerogels is related to solid content. The energy loss coefficient and resilient rate of the aerogels fabricated with 0.5% (in mass) solid content are 0.6 and 55.2%, respectively. Further data shows that the resilience of SiO₂nanofiber aerogels is dominated by effective nanofiber length and the curvature radius of nanofibers. Based on the above results, a relationship of resilience model is established and proved through nanofiber buckling theory. With a reduction in curvature radius, achievable through enhancement of nanofiber flexibility and increase in effective nanofiber length, the compressive resilient rate of aerogels increases. The present study provides theoretical guidance for the design of SiO₂nanofiber aerogels with high resilience.

Key words: nanofibre, flexibility, aerogel, resilience mechanism

CLC Number:

TB303

LI Fuping, CHU Jiabao, QIU Haibo, DANG Wei, LI Chenxi, ZHAO Kang, TANG Yufei. Compressive Resilience Mechanism of SiO₂ Nanofibre Aerogels[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2025, 40(9): 981-988.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 (a) TG curve of precursor membrane; (b, c) XRD patterns (b) and FT-IR spectra (c) of SiO2 nanofiber membrane; (d-f) SEM image (d), TEM image (e), HRTEM image and corresponding SEAD pattern (f) of SiO2 nanofiber membrane sintered at 700 ℃

Fig. 2 (a, b) Flexibility of SiO2 nanofiber membrane; (c, d) Schematic diagrams for buckling deformation of SiO2 nanofiber with different structures Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 3 (a) Fabrication process of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels; (b-e) Digital photo (b) and microstructures (c-e) of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels fabricated with 1.5% solid content and sintered at 700 ℃

Fig. 4 (a) Volume shrinkage, (b) density and porosity of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels sintered at 700 ℃

Fig. 5 Compressive mechanical properties of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels (a-c) Stress-strain curves of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels fabricated with solid contents of (a) 0.5%, (b) 1.5% and (c) 2.5%; (d) Effect of solid content on the compressive strength and energy loss coefficients (ΔU/U); (e) Resilience of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels under liquid nitrogen, room temperature and butane blowtorch flame. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 6 Compressive resilience mechanism of SiO2 fiber aerogels (a) Pore wall of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels; (b) Minimum curve radius of single SiO2 nanofiber during buckling; (c) Buckling deformation of nanofiber; (d) Effective nanofiber length of SiO2 nanofiber aerogels fabricated with different solid contents; (e) Comparison of experimental and calculated values of resilience for SiO2 nanofiber aerogels

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Compressive Resilience Mechanism of SiO₂ Nanofibre Aerogels

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