Synthesis of light weight recron fiber-reinforced sodium silicate based silica aerogel blankets at an ambient pressure for thermal protection

In this work, for the sake of improving the performance of homogeneous and flexible silica aerogel blankets in practical applications, lightweight recron fibers were added in silica sol for the fabrication of silica aerogel blankets. The recron based silica aerogel blanket (RSAB) was synthesized by using a low-cost industrial grade sodium silicate precursor with the superficial sol–gel process via ambient pressure drying technique. The as-synthesized RSAB features excellent flexibility, hydrophobic, thermally stable, and mechanical robustness. The Si–C–H bond percentage is maintained at 6% after heat treatment at 270 °C, which results in the high water-repelling phenomenon at a contact angle of 120°. The thermal stability of the aerogel blanket is also confirmed (246 °C) by differential scanning calorimetry. Moreover, the prepared aerogel acquires 87% porosity with homogeneous microstructure and BET surface area as 644 m2/g. The oxidation peak is detected at 280 °C of –CH3 groups. The latter endowed the RSAB exhibits superior thermal insulation property as well as excellent flexibility. These prepared RSAB aerogel composites may have great integrity for a wide diversity of energy-saving applications. Such RASB can have great potential in electrical appliances for energy conservation purposes due to its lightweight, thermally stable, mechanically robust, highly flexible, and economical manufacturing processes.