Novel lightweight and highly thermally insulative silica aerogel-doped poly(vinyl chloride)-coated fabric composite

Novel lightweight and highly thermal insulative aerogel-doped poly(vinyl chloride)-coated fabric composites were prepared on woven fabrics made of polyester fibres using knife coating method, and their performances were compared with neat composite. The composites were prepared by incorporating a commercial aerogel to a green' poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plastisol. The effect of aerogel-content, thermal insulating property, thermal degradation, surface characteristics, tensile and physical properties of the composites were investigated. Results revealed that aerogel could reduce thermal conductivity, density and hydrophilicity of the composites dramatically without significant decrease in other properties. Experimental results showed that thermal insulation properties were enhanced by approximate to 26% (from 205 to 152 mW/m-K), density decreased by approximate to 17% (from 1.132 to 0.941g/cm(3)) and hydrophobicity increased by 16.4% (from 76.02 to 88.67 +/- 1.48 degrees) with respect to the unmodified coated fabric. Analyses proved that composite with 3% aerogel is the lightest by weight, while 4% showed the highest thermal insulation. The results showed that 4% is the critical percentage, and preparation of composites with aerogel content higher than 4% has limitations with the given formulation due to high viscosity of plastisol. The prepared composite has potential applications in many fields such as development of textile bioreactors for ethanol/biogas production from waste materials, temporary houses and tents, facade coverings, container linings and tarpaulins. The prepared composite can be considered green' due to usage of a non-phthalate environment-friendly plasticiser.