Preparation of SiO2 nanocomposites with aligned distributing glass fibre using freeze-drying process

Abstract

The glass fibre reinforced nano-SiO2 composites (with up to 40 wt.% of glass fibres) as insulating materials were fabricated firstly by preparing aligned glass fibres under the ice formation followed by pressing and annealing. Scanning electron microscopy analyses confirmed the presence of parallel distribution of glass fibres in certain direction. The low-temperature nitrogen adsorption and mercury intrusion measurements showed that the composites have mesoporous structure with the mean pore size less than 20 nm. Further, it was found that the compressive strength and thermal conductivity of composite were 15.1 MPa and 0.0585 W/(m·K), respectively.

Keywords

• silica based nanocomposites
• glass fibre alignment
• mesoporous materials
• thermal properties