Chemical retreating for gel-typed aerogel and insulation performance of cement containing aerogel

This research identified the possibility of application as an insulation building material by mixing aerogels with the cement paste as well as their thermal performance. The aerogel is a very stable material against water because of their skeleton’s characteristics, so that re-treatment of aerogel had to be preceded before mixing with cement pastes. Chemical and physical stability caused by the re-treatment of aerogel in the cured cement were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Moreover, thermal conductivity of aerogel cement was 0.135 W/m K which is 75% of aerogel-free cement’s thermal conductivity, 0.533 W/m K.

► Possibility of new type of cement composite using aerogel was studied. ► Gel-typed aerogel was prepared by methanol to mix with cement stably. ► No chemical changes of aerogel cement were confirmed by FT-IR and SEM. ► Thermal conductivity of aerogel cement decreases by 75% comparing to ordinary one.