Industrial application of SiO2 aerogel prepared by supercritical ethanol (SCE) drying technique as cold and heat insulation materials

SiO2 aerogel is an ultra-light nanoporous material with high transparency, low thermal conductivity, low density, low dielectric constant and high-temperature resistance. The outstanding properties contribute to the application of SiO2 aerogel for heat preservation, cold retention and thermal insulation materials. In this paper, SiO2 aerogels were prepared by the sol-gel method via supercritical ethanol drying (SCE). Based on the premise of industrial production, a composite felt with SiO2 aerogel as the base material and glass fiber as the auxiliary one was prepared, and its practical application in heat preservation systems for automobile battery insulation and the insulation of low-temperature storage tank was illustrated and analyzed. The results showed that the composite aerogel felt used for power battery insulation can achieve the effect of good insulation and delay of thermal runaway (thus prolonging the escape time), while its use for insulating a cold storage tank effectively maintained the low temperature of the tank’s contents. Graphical abstract