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  • Fire‐Retardant and Thermall...
    Yu, Zhi‐Long; Yang, Ning; Apostolopoulou‐Kalkavoura, Varvara; Qin, Bing; Ma, Zhi‐Yuan; Xing, Wei‐Yi; Qiao, Chan; Bergström, Lennart; Antonietti, Markus; Yu, Shu‐Hong

    Angewandte Chemie International Edition, April 16, 2018, Volume: 57, Issue: 17
    Journal Article

    Energy efficient buildings require materials with a low thermal conductivity and a high fire resistance. Traditional organic insulation materials are limited by their poor fire resistance and inorganic insulation materials are either brittle or display a high thermal conductivity. Herein we report a mechanically resilient organic/inorganic composite aerogel with a thermal conductivity significantly lower than expanded polystyrene and excellent fire resistance. Co‐polymerization and nanoscale phase separation of the phenol‐formaldehyde‐resin (PFR) and silica generate a binary network with domain sizes below 20 nm. The PFR/SiO2 aerogel can resist a high‐temperature flame without disintegration and prevents the temperature on the non‐exposed side from increasing above the temperature critical for the collapse of reinforced concrete structures. Fire not starter: Taking advantage of a co‐polymerization strategy an organic–inorganic binary network hybrid aerogel with a nanoscale homogeneity can be prepared. The phenol‐formaldehyde‐resin/SiO2 aerogel is mechanically resilient and has a thermal conductivity significantly lower than expanded polystyrene and excellent fire resistance.