Thermally-insulating, fire-retardant foams
Nature Nanotechnology
2014년11월3일
A process that freezes cellulose nanofibres, graphene oxide and clay nanorods together, produces super-insulating, fire-retardant foams that are suitable for improving the energy efficiency of buildings, reports a study published online this week in Nature Nanotechnology.
Heat-insulating building materials need to be strong, poor at conducting heat, resistant to fire and moisture, and easily fitted to older buildings without compromising architectural design. Previous studies have shown that nanosized one- and two-dimensional materials such as carbon nanotubes can reduce heat conduction, and that other nanomaterials such as clays offer good resistance to fire.
Lennart Bergstrom and colleagues now report that controlled freezing of cellulose nanofibres, graphene oxide and clay nanorods in a mould placed inside a liquid nitrogen bath produce highly porous foams, which have a thermal conductivity that is low enough to reduce the required thickness of insulation materials by more than 50% based on passive house standards. The pore structure is uniform, having parallel millimetre-long tubes, with cell walls that are thin and smooth. The nanomaterials are distributed homogenously in the cell walls and contribute to the mechanical strength, moisture- and fire-resistance of the foams.
doi: 10.1038/nnano.2014.248
리서치 하이라이트
-
7월7일
Public health: Tackling adolescent stressNature
-
6월23일
Scientific community: Women credited less than men in scientific paper authorshipNature
-
5월12일
Geoscience: Monitoring earthquakes at the speed of lightNature
-
5월4일
Microbiology: Bacteriophage therapy helps treat multi-drug resistant infection in an immunocompromised patientNature Communications
-
4월27일
Planetary science: Building blocks of DNA detected in meteoritesNature Communications
-
4월8일
Health: Psilocybin use associated with lower risk of opioid addictionScientific Reports