Cellulose-chitosan framework/polyailine hybrid aerogel toward thermal insulation and microwave absorbing application

Traditional infrared radiation control materials, such as metallic silver, have low infrared emissivity, but they are expensive, dense, and not compatible with absorbing performance in microwave section. Meanwhile, the study of traditional absorbing materials is also limited to the synthesis and property investigation of powder materials, without considering the mechanical properties, thermal insulation properties, corrosion resistance and other requirements required by the actual application conditions. To solve the above problems, a cellulose skeleton with three-dimensional (3D) structure was synthesized with polyaniline (PANI) conductive polymer cladding on its surface. This aerogel could not only effectively consume the electromagnetic wave but also has great potential in thermal insulation application. The three-dimensional skeleton of cellulose-chitosan framework may greatly improve the conduction loss ability, while polyaniline itself has a higher infrared reflectance and a lower microwave reflectance, so the composite material has strong microwave loss performance and is compatible with thermal insulation. Remarkably, the microwave absorption (MA) performance of the aerogel with broad fe of 6.04 GHz and strong absorption intensity of −54.76 dB can be achieved. Benefiting from its special 3D structure, the aerogel can possess enhanced conductive loss ability. Notably, the as-prepared aerogel can also show impressive heat insulation performance, which means it could have the potential in the infrared stealth application. Above all, those multifunctional properties greatly inherit the positive feature of the raw materials. At the same time, the structural optimization further exploits its best potentialities, giving it possibilities in future application.