Environment friendly biomass composite aerogel with reinforced mechanical properties for thermal insulation and flame retardancy application

Biomass aerogels have attracted wide attention due to their excellent thermal insulation properties, but their low mechanical strength and high susceptibility to combustion limit their application. To address these limitations, a novel composite aerogel was prepared by combining chitosan aerogel (CS) and hydroxyapatite nanowires (HAP) via phytic acid (PA) cross-linking and freeze-drying. It was found that the maximum compressive strength and modulus of CS/HAP aerogel were 1.13 and 0.67 MPa, respectively. The minimum thermal conductivity of CS/HAP(0.5) composite aerogel was 0.03921 W m-1 K-1, indicating its good thermal insulating property. Moreover, the CS/HAP composite aerogel also showed excellent flame-retardant properties. The heat release rate (HRR) and total heat release from combustion (THR) were significantly lower than those of the CS aerogel, with values of 35.2 kW m-2 and 3.7 MJ m-2, respectively, compared to 169.6 kW m-2 and 5.4 MJ m-2. The total smoke release (TSR) was also at a low level, reaches 0.4 m2 m-2.HighlightsPropose a novel chitosan aerogel composited with inorganic nano-reinforced HAP.High mechanical strength of CS/HAP composite aerogel are illustrated.Exhibit excellent thermal insulation performance of CS/HAP aerogel.HAP and PA largely improves the flame retardancy of the chitosan aerogel. The preparation and characterization of a novel CS/HAP composite aerogel via phytic acid (PA) cross-linking and freeze-drying.image