Thermally Stable Aerogels for Aerospace Applications

The extreme environments of space exploration have pushed scientists to create revolutionary materials that have filtered back to terrestrial life. A key challenge is lightweight insulation to replace dense ceramics for aerospace applications, where every pound is worth $10,000. A promising new form of insulation is aerogels. Aerogels are a solid material composed of highly porous networks of cross-linked chains which form air-filled pores, creating solid structures that exhibit extraordinarily low density and thermal conductivity. The primary challenge of the use of aerogels as lightweight insulation is stabilization of the aerogel structure at desired operating temperatures up to 1200 degrees C. At temperatures of 700 to 1000 degrees C, the pore structure of most aerogels collapse. Upon collapse of the pore structure, the favorable thermal properties of the aerogel are diminished. Through investigation of novel syntheses and aerogel formulations, high temperature aerogels will be identified. In particular, doped metal oxide aerogels are a candidate for a highly porous, lightweight material that can withstand operating temperatures up to 1200 degrees C. The overall goal of the project is to study the structural and thermal properties of doped metal oxide aerogels for use in aerospace thermal protection systems. Several sol-gel synthesis routes to monolithic aerogels will be investigated. Compositions used for thermal barrier coatings and other high temperature oxides will synthesized as aerogels, including yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), co-doped YSZ (hafnium, ytterbium, gadolinium, or lanthanum), and zirconate pyrochlores. The aerogels will be characterized extensively to reveal effects of composition and synthesis conditions on phase transformations, morphology, and surface area. This study provides information on the structural and thermal properties of doped metal oxide aerogels and how these properties can be tuned by modifying synthesis conditions and composition for high temperature aerospace applications such as re-entry vehicles, space probes, and rovers.

This study provides information on the structural and thermal properties of YSZ aerogels and how these properties can be tuned by modifying synthesis conditions and composition for high temperature aerospace applications such as re-entry vehicles, space probes, and rovers.

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