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Li C, Zhang G, Wang Y, Lin L, Ken Ostrikov K. Rational synthesis of methylsilsesquioxane aerogels addressing thermal load and compression recovery issues in Li-ion batteries. J Colloid Interface Sci 2024; 669:157-174. [PMID: 38713955 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2023] [Revised: 04/25/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
Li-ion batteries suffer from two key safety issues: thermal overload and compression recovery, which may lead to flammability and mechanical failure. Silica aerogels are promising solutions to both these issues owing to their excellent thermal stability and tailored mechanical properties. However, finding the optimum sol composition in sol-gel-based aerogel synthesis is needed to address these issues at industry-relevant scales. Here, we propose an innovative approach to determine the optimum sol composition for methylsilsesquioxane (MSQ) aerogel sheets, which is based on the mechanisms of the effects of molar ratios of hydrolysis water and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) on the physical properties of MSQ aerogel sheets and according to the ternary contour distribution of their properties. The synthesized MSQ aerogels exhibited a soft, light, and powderless texture and featured superhydrophobic properties (150.2°), low thermal conductivity of 33.6 mW/(m·K), high thermal stability temperature in nitrogen atmosphere at 479.3 °C and moderate short-term (<6 h) service temperature of 120.0 °C. Significantly, the structural stability and elasticity of the aerogels surpassed the current state-of-the-art, showing recovery to 81.3 % of the original thickness and 85.2 % of the original stress after being subjected to 400 cycles of high-speed and high-strain consecutive compression, respectively. These excellent properties make the MSQ aerogel sheets promising for applications in thermal load and compression recovery management of diverse energy storage devices, including batteries for next-generation electric vehicles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengdong Li
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Research Center for Photoresponsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
| | - Guihua Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Research Center for Photoresponsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Yuxiang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Research Center for Photoresponsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Liangliang Lin
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Research Center for Photoresponsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Kostya Ken Ostrikov
- School of Chemistry and Physics and QUT Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
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Fashandi M, Rejeb ZB, Naguib HE, Park CB. Melamine Network as a Solution for Significant Enhancement of the Mechanical, Adsorptive, and Surface Properties in a Novel Carbon Nanomaterial-Silica Aerogel Composite. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024. [PMID: 38684012 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c00415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Silica aerogels exhibit exceptional characteristics such as mesoporosity, light weight, high surface area, and pore volume. Nevertheless, their utilization in industrial settings remains constrained due to their brittleness, moisture sensitivity, and costly synthesis procedure. Several studies have proved that adding nanofillers, such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) or graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), can improve the mechanical strength of the aerogels. The incorporation of nanofillers is often accompanied by agglomeration and pore blockage, which, in turn, deteriorates the surface area, pore volume, and low density. Including flexible melamine foam (MF) as a scaffold for the silica aerogel and nanofiller composite can prevent the restacking of the nanofillers through π-π interaction, hence maintaining the incredible properties of aerogels and improving their mechanical properties. CNT, GNP, and the polymeric silica precursor, polyvinyltrimethoxysilane (PVTMS), were added to a MF, at varying concentrations, to fabricate the MF-aerogel nanocomposites. Surfactant and sonication were utilized to ensure a homogeneous dispersion of the nanofillers in the system. The presence of MF prevented the agglomeration of nanofillers, resulting in lower density and relatively higher surface properties (SBET up to 929 m2·g-1 and pore volume up to 4.34 cc·g-1). Moreover, the MF-supported samples could endure 80% strain without breakage and showed an outstanding compressive strength of up to ∼20 MPa. These aerogel nanocomposites also demonstrated an excellent volatile organic compound (∼2680 mg·g-1) and cationic dye adsorption (∼10 mg·g-1).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Fashandi
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada
| | - Zeineb Ben Rejeb
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada
| | - Hani E Naguib
- Toronto Smart Materials & Structures, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada
| | - Chul B Park
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada
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Ma H, Fashandi M, Rejeb ZB, Ming X, Liu Y, Gong P, Li G, Park CB. Efficient Electromagnetic Wave Absorption and Thermal Infrared Stealth in PVTMS@MWCNT Nano-Aerogel via Abundant Nano-Sized Cavities and Attenuation Interfaces. NANO-MICRO LETTERS 2023; 16:20. [PMID: 37975901 PMCID: PMC10656378 DOI: 10.1007/s40820-023-01218-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Pre-polymerized vinyl trimethoxy silane (PVTMS)@MWCNT nano-aerogel system was constructed via radical polymerization, sol-gel transition and supercritical CO2 drying. The fabricated organic-inorganic hybrid PVTMS@MWCNT aerogel structure shows nano-pore size (30-40 nm), high specific surface area (559 m2 g-1), high void fraction (91.7%) and enhanced mechanical property: (1) the nano-pore size is beneficial for efficiently blocking thermal conduction and thermal convection via Knudsen effect (beneficial for infrared (IR) stealth); (2) the heterogeneous interface was beneficial for IR reflection (beneficial for IR stealth) and MWCNT polarization loss (beneficial for electromagnetic wave (EMW) attenuation); (3) the high void fraction was beneficial for enhancing thermal insulation (beneficial for IR stealth) and EMW impedance match (beneficial for EMW attenuation). Guided by the above theoretical design strategy, PVTMS@MWCNT nano-aerogel shows superior EMW absorption property (cover all Ku-band) and thermal IR stealth property (ΔT reached 60.7 °C). Followed by a facial combination of the above nano-aerogel with graphene film of high electrical conductivity, an extremely high electromagnetic interference shielding material (66.5 dB, 2.06 mm thickness) with superior absorption performance of an average absorption-to-reflection (A/R) coefficient ratio of 25.4 and a low reflection bandwidth of 4.1 GHz (A/R ratio more than 10) was experimentally obtained in this work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haoyu Ma
- College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, 24 Yihuan Road, Nanyiduan, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8, Canada
- Jiangsu JITRI Advanced Polymer Materials Research Institute, Tengfei Building, 88 Jiangmiao Road, Jiangbei New District, Nanjing, 211800, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Maryam Fashandi
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8, Canada
| | - Zeineb Ben Rejeb
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8, Canada
| | - Xin Ming
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, International Research Center for X Polymers, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou, 310027, People's Republic of China
| | - Yingjun Liu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, International Research Center for X Polymers, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou, 310027, People's Republic of China
| | - Pengjian Gong
- College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, 24 Yihuan Road, Nanyiduan, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
| | - Guangxian Li
- College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, 24 Yihuan Road, Nanyiduan, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
| | - Chul B Park
- College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, 24 Yihuan Road, Nanyiduan, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8, Canada.
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