Development of fire-resistant, flexible, and insulating silica-aerogel/PDMS composite

Abstract

In order to minimize heat loss and increase energy efficiency, the use of insulation materials is essential in various fields. While the existing insulation material, perlite, has a low flexibility issue, cerakwool experiences insulation performance degradation over time due to its talc content. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new insulation material that possesses high workability, flexibility, as well as fire resistance and insulation properties. In this study, a flexible, insulating, and highly fire-resistant PDMS was developed by creating voids using the solvent evaporation-induced phase separation method and by incorporating silica-aerogel. Particularly, the size of the voids was controlled depending on the type of solvent used. The optical, mechanical, and thermal properties were evaluated using SEM, UTM, microcalorimeter, and hot-disk analysis.