Thermally Stable Nanoporous ZrO₂/SiO₂ Hybrid Aerogels for Thermal Insulation

Compared with single-component aerogels, hybrid aerogels with multiple components possess enhanced properties, especially high thermal stabilities. Thermal stability improvement depends on the mixing between the various components. In the present research, a ZrO2/SiO2 hybrid aerogel was representatively chosen to study the mixing behaviors and resultant thermal stabilities. A series of ZrO2/SiO2 hybrid aerogels were synthesized by using different sol–gel parameters to study shrinkage, nanopore collapse, and crystallization behavior upon heat treatment. The sol–gel hybridization of weakly branched ZrO2 and SiO2 clusters was found to provide maximum mixing of ZrO2/SiO2. The highly mixed hybrid aerogel, with a ratio of 86/14 w/w ZrO2/SiO2, showed the best thermal stability. The thermally stable ZrO2/SiO2 hybrid aerogel, after incorporation into a mullite fiber blanket, showed very low thermal conductivities of 0.026 ± 0.001, 0.037 ± 0.001, and 0.058 ± 0.002 W/(m K) at 600, 800, and 1000 °C, respectively. It was suggested that weakly branched ZrO2 and SiO2 clusters preferred to freely tangle with each other during the preparation procedure, achieving the most highly mixed ZrO2/SiO2 hybrid with the maximum synergistic effect. This hybrid strategy may provide pathways in designing other multiple-component hybrid aerogels.