Direct foaming driven synthesis and thermophysical characterization of silica-alumina foams: Applications for thermal insulation

Using earth-abundant materials such as quartz and corundum powders as precursors, we have developed a simple, but effective low energy direct foaming based method for synthesis of thermally insulating porous foams with thermal conductivity as low as 0.08 W/mK. Specifically, the adopted synthesis procedure provides a straightforward avenue for obtaining closed-cell silica-alumina foams, with densities ranging from 1.7 to 0.22 g/cc. The ability to tune the densities is achieved by controlled addition of blowing agents (H₂O₂) and surfactants (stearic acid) respectively. The thermal conductivity of these foams decreased monotonically with increasing porosity (or decreasing densities), and the density-thermal conductivity relationship is governed by a power law. In addition, morphological and structural characterization was performed via optical and electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and nuclear magnetic resonance, and the results from these studies are also discussed in the context of structural evolution of the foams as a function of porosity. While this work represents a straightforward and simple path towards obtaining silica-alumina foams with very low density, the developed method is directly applicable to obtaining a wider variety of multicomponent ceramic foams.