Self-reinforcement of Light, Temperature-Resistant Silica Nanofibrous Aerogels with Tunable Mechanical Properties

Silica aerogels have attracted significant interest in thermal insulation applications because of their low thermal conductivity and great thermal stability, however, their fragility has limited their application in every-day products. Herein, a self-reinforcing strategy to design silica nanofibrous aerogels (SNFAs) is proposed using electrospun SiO2 nanofibers as the matrix and a silica sol as a high-temperature nanoglue. Adopting this approach results in a strong and compatible interfacial interaction between the SiO2 fibers and the silica sol, which results in the SNFAs exhibiting high-temperature-resistant and tunable mechanical properties from elastic to rigid. Furthermore, additional properties such as low density, high thermal insulation performance, and fire-resistance are still retained. The self-reinforcing method described herein may be extended to numerous other new ceramic aerogels that require robust mechanical properties and high-temperature resistance.