Fiber templated epitaxially grown composite membranes: from thermal insulation to infrared stealth

Zheng, R., Cheng, Y., Jiang, X., Lin, T., Chen, W., Deng, G., Miras, H. N. and Song, Y.-F. (2022) Fiber templated epitaxially grown composite membranes: from thermal insulation to infrared stealth. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 14(23), pp. 27214-27221. (doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c05906) (PMID:35653141)

Abstract

Thermal insulation materials show a substantial impact on civil and military fields for applications. Fabrication of efficient, flexible, and comfortable composite materials for thermal insulation is thereby of significance. Herein, a “fiber templated epitaxial growth” strategy was adopted to construct PAN@LDH (PAN = polyacrylonitrile; LDH = layered double hydroxides) composite membranes with a three-dimensional (3D) network structure. The PAN@LDH showed an impressive temperature difference of 28.1 °C as a thermal insulation material in the hot stage of 80 °C with a thin layer of 0.6 mm. Moreover, when a human hand was covered with 3 layers of the PAN@LDH-70% composite membrane, it was rendered invisible under infrared radiation. Such excellent performance can be attributed to the following reasons: (1) the hierarchical interfaces of the PAN@LDH composite membrane reduced thermal conduction, (2) the 3D network structure of the PAN@LDH composite membranes restricted thermal convection, and (3) the selective infrared absorption of LDHs decreased thermal radiation. When modified with Dodecyltrimethoxysilane (DTMS), the resulting PAN@LDH@DTMS membrane can be used under high humidity conditions with excellent thermal insulation properties. As such, this work provides a facile strategy for the development of high-performance thermal insulation functional membranes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (22178019), the Opening Funds of State Key Laboratory of Building Safety and Built Environment and National Engineering Research Center of Building Technology, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (XK1802-6, XK1803-05, XK1902, 12060093063).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Moiras, Professor Haralampos
• Authors: Zheng, R., Cheng, Y., Jiang, X., Lin, T., Chen, W., Deng, G., Miras, H. N., and Song, Y.-F.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• ISSN: 1944-8244
• ISSN (Online): 1944-8252
• Published Online: 02 June 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 American Chemical Society
• First Published: First published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 14(23):27214-27221
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy