scholarly journals Continuous, Strong, Porous Silk Firoin-Based Aerogel Fibers toward Textile Thermal Insulation

Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiwei Yang ◽  
Zongqian Wang ◽  
Zhi Liu ◽  
Huan Cheng ◽  
Changlong Li

Aerogel fiber, with the characteristics of ultra-low density, ultra-high porosity, and high specific surface area, is the most potential candidate for manufacturing wearable thermal insulation material. However, aerogel fibers generally show weak mechanical properties and complex preparation processes. Herein, through firstly preparing a cellulose acetate/polyacrylic acid (CA/PAA) hollow fiber using coaxial wet-spinning followed by injecting the silk fibroin (SF) solution into the hollow fiber, the CA/PAA-wrapped SF aerogel fibers toward textile thermal insulation were successfully constructed after freeze-drying. The sheath (CA/PAA hollow fiber) possesses a multiscale porous structure, including micropores (11.37 ± 4.01 μm), sub-micron pores (217.47 ± 46.16 nm), as well as nanopores on the inner (44.00 ± 21.65 nm) and outer (36.43 ± 17.55 nm) surfaces, which is crucial to the formation of a SF aerogel core. Furthermore, the porous CA/PAA-wrapped SF aerogel fibers have many advantages, such as low density (0.21 g/cm3), high porosity (86%), high strength at break (2.6 ± 0.4 MPa), as well as potential continuous and large-scale production. The delicate structure of multiscale porous sheath and ultra-low-density SF aerogel core synergistically inhibit air circulation and limit convective heat transfer. Meanwhile, the high porosity of aerogel fibers weakens heat transfer and the SF aerogel cellular walls prevent infrared radiation. The results show that the mat composed of these aerogel fibers exhibits excellent thermal insulating properties with a wide working temperature from −20 to 100 °C. Therefore, this SF-based aerogel fiber can be considered as a practical option for high performance thermal insulation.

MRS Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (53) ◽  
pp. 3573-3578
Author(s):  
Jiasheng Qian ◽  
Shu Ping Lau ◽  
Jikang Yuan

ABSTRACTWe report a simple approach to fabricate high performance energy storage devices based on aqueous inorganic ink comprised of hexagonal MnO2 nanosheets. The MnO2 ink exhibits long term stability. Continuous thin films can be formed on various substrates without using any binder. To obtain a flexible electrode for capacitive energy storage, we printed the MnO2 ink on commercially available A4 paper pre-treated by multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The electrode exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 90.8 mF/cm2. The electrode could maintain 98.7% capacitance retention for 1,000 cycles at 10 mV/s. The MnO2 ink could be a potential candidate for large-scale production of flexible and printable electronic devices for energy storage and conversion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Yoda ◽  
Satoru Takeshita ◽  
Takumi Ono ◽  
Ryosuke Tada ◽  
Hideo Ota

A new flexible thermal insulation sheet, a composite of silica aerogel with polypropylene (PP) foam, has been developed. Even though a large volume ratio of silica aerogel (97%) was included, the composite showed high flexibility. Thermal conductivity of the composite was 0.016 W/(m⋅K) at 298 K, which is as low as silica aerogel monolith. Silica aerogel flaking, which has been a problem in practical applications, is very low in this composite due to skin layers of the polymer-foam composite. A supercritical drying process for rolled sheets of the material for large-scale production is also described. Simulations of extraction of 2-propanol from a silica alcogel revealed that rolled composite sheets with small spaces between the sheet composite are able to dry in a reasonable extraction time. These findings led to effective on production of this material on a pilot industrial scale.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Ning ◽  
Maoyang Xia ◽  
Dong Wang ◽  
Xin Feng ◽  
Hong Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Recent developments in the synthesis of graphene-based structures focus on continuous improvement of porous nanostructures, doping of thin films, and mechanisms for the construction of three-dimensional architectures. Herein, we synthesize creeper-like Ni3Si2/NiOOH/graphene nanostructures via low-pressure all-solid melting-reconstruction chemical vapor deposition. In a carbon-rich atmosphere, high-energy atoms bombard the Ni and Si surface, and reduce the free energy in the thermodynamic equilibrium of solid Ni–Si particles, considerably catalyzing the growth of Ni–Si nanocrystals. By controlling the carbon source content, a Ni3Si2 single crystal with high crystallinity and good homogeneity is stably synthesized. Electrochemical measurements indicate that the nanostructures exhibit an ultrahigh specific capacity of 835.3 C g−1 (1193.28 F g−1) at 1 A g−1; when integrated as an all-solid-state supercapacitor, it provides a remarkable energy density as high as 25.9 Wh kg−1 at 750 W kg−1, which can be attributed to the free-standing Ni3Si2/graphene skeleton providing a large specific area and NiOOH inhibits insulation on the electrode surface in an alkaline solution, thereby accelerating the electron exchange rate. The growth of the high-performance composite nanostructure is simple and controllable, enabling the large-scale production and application of microenergy storage devices.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (23) ◽  
pp. 5558
Author(s):  
Dimitra Vernardou ◽  
Charalampos Drosos ◽  
Andreas Kafizas ◽  
Martyn E. Pemble ◽  
Emmanouel Koudoumas

The need for clean and efficient energy storage has become the center of attention due to the eminent global energy crisis and growing ecological concerns. A key component in this effort is the ultra-high performance battery, which will play a major role in the energy industry. To meet the demands in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and large-scale energy storage systems, it is necessary to prepare advanced batteries with high safety, fast charge ratios, and discharge capabilities at a low cost. Cathode materials play a significant role in determining the performance of batteries. Among the possible electrode materials is vanadium pentoxide, which will be discussed in this review, due to its low cost and high theoretical capacity. Additionally, aqueous electrolytes, which are environmentally safe, provide an alternative approach compared to organic media for safe, cost-effective, and scalable energy storage. In this review, we will reveal the industrial potential of competitive methods to grow cathodes with excellent stability and enhanced electrochemical performance in aqueous media and lay the foundation for the large-scale production of electrode materials.


Author(s):  
Brian Smith ◽  
David Romero ◽  
Damena Agonafer ◽  
Jason Gu ◽  
Cristina H. Amon

Extreme miniaturization in the microelectronics component market along with the emergence of system-on-chip applications has driven interest in correspondingly small-scale thermal management designs requiring novel material systems. This paper concentrates on aerogel, which is an amorphous, nanoporous dielectric oxide fabricated through a sol-gel process. Its extremely high porosity leads to very low thermal conductivity and dielectric constants. Significant research has been devoted to its electrical properties; however, there are several emerging applications that can leverage the thermal characteristics as well. Two promising applications are investigated in this paper: a monolithically integrated infrared sensor that requires thermal isolation between sensor and silicon substrate, and an ultra-miniature crystal oscillator device which demands thermal insulation of the crystal for low-power operation. This paper identifies the potential benefits of aerogel in these applications through system modeling, demonstrates aerogel’s compatibility with standard low-cost microfabrication techniques, and presents results of thermal testing of aerogel films compared with other microelectronics insulators and available data in the literature. The goal is to explore system thermal design using aerogel while demonstrating its feasibility through experimentation. The combination of numerical simulations, Bayesian surrogate modeling, and process development helps to refine candidate aerogel applications and allow the designer to explore thermal designs which have not previously been possible in large-scale microelectronics system production.   This paper was also originally published as part of the Proceedings of the ASME 2005 Pacific Rim Technical Conference and Exhibition on Integration and Packaging of MEMS, NEMS, and Electronic Systems.


1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sari Ala-Uotila ◽  
Anne Marjamäki ◽  
Marja-Terttu Matikainen ◽  
Markku Jalkanen

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 15020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Sheu ◽  
Jim Beltzer ◽  
Brian Fury ◽  
Katarzyna Wilczek ◽  
Steve Tobin ◽  
...  

RSC Advances ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (47) ◽  
pp. 37830-37836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wei ◽  
Linlin Guo ◽  
Xiaoyang Qiu ◽  
Peng Qu ◽  
Maotian Xu ◽  
...  

Although many routes have been developed that can efficiently improve the electrochemical performance of LiFePO4 cathodes, few of them meet the urgent industrial requirements of large-scale production, low cost and excellent performance.


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