SiO2 Nanostructure-Based Aerogels with High Strength and Deformability for Thermal Insulation

Conventional SiO2 aerogels composed of 0-dimensional nanoparticles do not have large-scale compression, tensile, and shear deformation capabilities, and the poor mechanical properties hinder their further development and application. We report a scalable strategy to construct the nanoporous network of a SiO2 aerogel by alternately linking octa(aminophenyl)-T8-POSS and hexaphthalic acid. The resulting SiO2 aerogel exhibits high strengths (compression, tensile and shear strengths are 26.4, 9.16, and 8.31 MPa, respectively), excellent deformabilities (fracture compression, tensile, and shear strains are 82.63%, 57.81% and 108.02%, respectively), flexbile processability and good structural stability (only 1.7% plastic deformation occurs after 100 load–unload cycles at a large compression strain of 70%). Also, the mesoporous interconnected nanoskeleton with high porosity and the composition of fully hydrophobic groups also give the aerogel low thermal conductivities (0.02854 W/(m K) at 25 °C and 0.04638 W/(m K) at 300 °C) and superhydrophobic properties (hydrophobic angle 160° and saturated mass moisture absorption rate about 0.375%). The combination of these excellent properties ensures that the aerogel can be used as an efficient thermal insulation material for extreme environments, such as those where comprehensive mechanical and hydrophobic properties are strictly required.