Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Aerogel–Incorporated Geopolymer Insulation Materials
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31, Issue 7
Abstract
Geopolymer-blended aerogel materials (GAMs) prepared by adding different proportions of water and aerogel (AG) were studied with respect to stability, viscosity, segregation degree, density, thermal conductivity, compressive strength, and interfacial characteristics. These properties were tested by contact angle tester, rheometer, thermal conductivity tester, universal testing machine, and scanning electron microscope, among others. Results indicated that AG can stably exist within GAMs regardless of its high alkaline activator. With increasing AG content, the apparent viscosity of GAM slurry rose obviously and segregation degree increased slightly, then remained at around 2.6%. Due to its high porosity, an increased volume of AG generally contributed to a lowered density and thermal conductivity. The relationship between thermal conductivity and AG content conforms to a modified Maxwell-Euchen model, and the value of parameter is determined as 1.1–1.2. However, AG generally can lead to reduced compressive strength of GAMs. Considering this disadvantage, the AG surface was further modified with epoxy resin AB adhesive and silence coupling KH550. The compressive strength of GAMs with modified AG reached 46 MPa, a 30% increase, due to enhancement of the intertransition zone between aerogel and geopolymeric matrix as witnessed via scanning electron imaging.
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Data Availability Statement
Data analyzed during this study are available at https://doi.org/10.17632/62kyt6cfp7.1.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51572293) and Key Science and Technology Program of Shanxi Province, China (MC2014-04).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31 • Issue 7 • July 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 5, 2018
Accepted: Dec 10, 2018
Published online: Apr 25, 2019
Published in print: Jul 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Sep 25, 2019
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