A novel aerogel with forced thermoelastic deformation

In order to overcome the brittleness of traditional aerogels, we report the copolymer of polysiloxane as a precursor for the fabrication of high-performance aerogels. The copolymer of poly (methyl methacrylate-co-vinylmethyldimethoxysilane) was synthesized by radical copolymerization, using methyl methacrylate (MMA) and vinylmethyldimethoxysilane (VMDMS), and multifunctional silane compounds including the VMDMS, vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) were used to promote the formation of the cross-linked network. Our reported aerogels have excellent mechanical properties and stability. Moreover, the recovery of these aerogels can be improved by more than 14% after heat treatment, which can recover over 80% of the original height. The morphologies and microstructures of these co-polymer aerogels were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and pore size distribution. The structural and chemical compositions were analyzed by 1H NMR spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). The thermal analysis was evaluated by differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG), and the thermal insulation properties and the mechanical properties were determined by a thermal conductivity analyzer and uniaxial compression testing, respectively. The specific compressive strength of our reported aerogels is in the range of 6.99–27.70 MPa, the multi-point specific surface area is in the range of 752–1271 m2g-1, and thermal insulation performance is 0.030–0.061 W m−1 K−1. Finally, we suggest that radical copolymerization can also be employed for other co-polymer aerogels, including the monomers of CC double bonds.