Direct synthesis of highly stretchable ceramic nanofibrous aerogels via 3D reaction electrospinning

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 2637
• Main Authors: Cheng, Xiaota, Liu, Yi-Tao, Si, Yang, Yu, Jianyong, Ding, Bin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.05.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 119/118; 140/146; 147/135; 147/143; 639/301/299/1013; 639/301/357/551; Aerogels; Ceramics; Compressive properties; Design; Electrohydrodynamics; Electrospinning; Extreme environments; Folding; Heat conductivity; Humanities and Social Sciences; Mechanical properties; Metal fatigue; multidisciplinary; Nanofibers; Porosity; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Stretchability; Structural stability; Tensile strain; Textiles; Thermal conductivity; Thermal stability
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30435-z

Ceramic aerogels are attractive for many applications due to their ultralow density, high porosity, and multifunctionality but are limited by the typical trade-off relationship between mechanical properties and thermal stability when used in extreme environments. In this work, we design and synthesize ceramic nanofibrous aerogels with three-dimensional (3D) interwoven crimped-nanofibre structures that endow the aerogels with superior mechanical performances and high thermal stability. These ceramic aerogels are synthesized by a direct and facile route, 3D reaction electrospinning. They display robust structural stability with structure-derived mechanical ultra-stretchability up to 100% tensile strain and superior restoring capacity up to 40% tensile strain, 95% bending strain and 60% compressive strain, high thermal stability from −196 to 1400 °C, repeatable stretchability at working temperatures up to 1300 °C, and a low thermal conductivity of 0.0228 W m −1 K −1 in air. This work would enable the innovative design of high-performance ceramic aerogels for various applications. Ceramic aerogels are generally brittle and often tend to structurally collapse under large external tensile strain. Here the authors synthesize large-scale stretchable ceramic aerogels with interwoven crimped nanofibers by combining electrohydrodynamic method and 3D reaction electrospinning.