High-Strength Nanocomposite Aerogels of Ternary Composition: Poly(vinyl alcohol), Clay, and Cellulose Nanofibrils

Clay aerogels are foam-like materials with potential to combine high mechanical performance with fire retardancy. However, the compression strength of these aerogels is much lower than theoretically predicted values. High-strength aerogels with more than 95% porosity were prepared from a ternary material system based on poly(vinyl alcohol), montmorillonite clay platelets, and cellulose nanofibrils. A hydrocolloidal suspension of the three components was subjected to freeze-drying so that a low-density aerogel foam was formed. Cell structure was studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy. Interactions at the molecular scale were observed by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Cross-linking was carried out using glutaraldehyde or borax, and moisture stability was investigated. These biobased ternary aerogels showed compression strength much better than that of previously studied materials and also showed strength higher than that of high-performance sandwich foam cores such as cross-linked polyvinyl chloride foams.