Superelastic, Anticorrosive, and Flame-Resistant Nitrogen-Containing Resorcinol Formaldehyde/Graphene Oxide Composite Aerogels

Energy conservation requires next-generation thermal-insulating materials featured with multiple functions (e.g., ultralight, anticorrosion, mechanically resilient, and highly flame-retardant); however, creating such thermal-insulating materials has still proven challenging. Herein, we employed a self-assembly copolymerization strategy combined with an ambient-pressure drying technique to synthesize a new series of nitrogenous resorcinol formaldehyde/graphene oxide composite aerogels. Rational integration of metal ions, urea-formaldehyde (UF), resorcinol formaldehyde (RF), and graphene oxide (GO) in a system led to the interpenetrating quaternary network, rendering the as-prepared resorcinol-urea-formaldehyde/graphene oxide (RUFG) aerogel extraordinary compressibility (the maximum strain of 80% and robust stability) and high corrosion and combustion resistance, superior to many commercial thermal-insulating materials. Further considering its ultralight weight and low thermal conductivity, this RUFG aerogel can be quite adequate to serve as a new building material with high energy efficiency.