Research progress of reinforced SiO₂ aerogel composites

The SiO₂ aerogel is a lightweight solid material containing nano mesoporous structure. The SiO₂ aerogel has the characteristics of high porosity, high specific surface area, low thermal conductivity and low dielectric properties. The SiO₂ aerogel has broad application prospects in the fields of heat insulation, adsorption, sound absorption, luminescence, catalysis, electronics and other industrial fields. However, porous structure of SiO₂ aerogel is fragile and easy to collapse, which leads to the application being limited. The research focuses on the preparation of SiO₂ aerogel composites with excellent mechanical properties, but without significantly impairing the other good properties. The main preparation process, composites performance and reinforcement mechanism of SiO₂ aerogel composites reinforced by fiber, organic polymer and inorganic doping were introduced. In order to provide new design ideas for the study and application of SiO₂ aerogel composites, the research progress and key directions of the reinforced SiO₂ aerogel composites were discussed.