title: Tough Polymer Aerogels Incorporating a Conformal Inorganic Coating for Low Flammability and Durable Hydrophobicity.
abstract: Both inorganic and polymeric aerogels are well-known in the materials field. Inorganic aerogels are generally susceptible to brittle fracture, while polymeric aerogels tend to exhibit low modului and high flammability. To overcome these disadvantages, we introduce a new approach to the design of aerogels. A microporous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) aerogel/silica nanocomposite was prepared by growing a silica conformal coating onto a PVA aerogel scaffold. Such aerogel/silica nanocomposites show significant improvement in their mechanical properties over either individual component. The nanocomposites show excellent fire resistance since the silica conformal coating serves as a barrier for heat transfer and mass loss of the coated organic materials. After a fluorocarbon silane treatment, the nanocomposites also show durable superhydrophobicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Schiraldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Dayong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Swagelok Center for Surface Analysis of Materials, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States.
authors.forename: Danqi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Centre Català del Plàstic, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya , Colom n° 114, Terrassa 08222, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Soto
keywords: aerogel; coating; fire resistance; hydrophobicity; nanocomposite