Theoretical study on the effective thermal conductivity of silica aerogels based on a cross-aligned and cubic pore model

Abstract Aerogel nanoporous materials possess high porosity, high specific surface area, and extremely low density due to their unique nanoscale network structure. Moreover, their effective thermal conductivity is very low, making them a new type of lightweight and highly efficient nanoscale super-insulating material. However, prediction of their effective thermal conductivity is challenging due to their uneven pore size distribution. To investigate the internal heat transfer mechanism of aerogel nanoporous materials, this study constructed a cross-aligned and cubic pore model (CACPM) based on the actual pore arrangement of SiO 2 aerogel. Based on the established CACPM, the effective thermal conductivity expression for the aerogel was derived by simultaneously considering gas-phase heat conduction, solid-phase heat conduction, and radiative heat transfer. The derived expression was then compared with available experimental data and the Wei structure model. The results indicate that, according to the model established in this study for the derived thermal conductivity formula of silica aerogel, for powdery silica aerogel under the conditions of T = 298 K, a 2 = 0.85, D 1 = 90 μm, ρ = 128 kg/m 3 , within the pressure range of 0–10 5 Pa, the average deviation between the calculated values and experimental values is 10.51%. In the pressure range of 10 3 –10 4 Pa, the deviation between calculated values and experimental values is within 4%. Under these conditions, the model has certain reference value in engineering verification. This study also makes a certain contribution to the research of aerogel thermal conductivity heat transfer models and calculation formulae.