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Enhancement of Mechanical and Thermal Characteristics of Polyurethane-Based Composite with Silica Aerogel

Synthesis of polyurethane foams (PUF) with silica aerogel nanoparticles is an efficient alternative to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of the foam owing to the outstanding thermal insulation properties of porous silica aerogel nanoparticles. Silica aerogel was added into polyurethane foams at different weight percent (0, 1, 3, 5 wt.%) to observe the changes in the material properties. To confirm the applicability of the synthesized PUF to the heat insulating material, compressive tests were carried out at ambient and cryogenic temperature (20, -163°C) and the thermal conductivities were measured according to wt.%. In addition, the cell microstructure was identified using FE-SEM to analyze the effect of silica aerogels on the foam morphologies. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the mechanical strength and the heat insulation performance were improved in the polyurethane foam containing 1 wt.% of silica aerogel.