Micro structural design and macro synthesis of aerogel networks with gradient stiffness properties

Conductive aerogels have received extensive attention in a variety of application fields such as structural engineering and electrochemistry due to their lightweight, porous and conductive properties. The stiffness of aerogel is a key factor affecting its performance. So compared with conventional single-stiffness aerogels, the preparation of conductive aerogels with gradient stiffness properties is expected to achieve better stiffness matching and greater performance. Here, we develop a theoretical model of the gradient stiffness carbon nanotube (CNT) network and analyze the factors affecting the stiffness of the model from several perspectives, including spatial configuration and intrinsic parameters. Then, according to the guidance of the simulation results, actual CNT aerogels with gradient stiffness properties are successfully synthesized which have an ultra-wide range of stiffness variations. The unique lightweight gradient stiffness conductive aerogels are expected to show outstanding performance in many stiffness-dominated application fields.