Fabrication and Characterization of MSQ Aerogel Coating on ePTFE Thin Films for Cable Sheaths

Abstract

With methylsilsesquioxane (MSQ) aerogels synthesized by the sol-gel method as a raw material and Si-Ti sol as a binder, an alcohol-based aerogel slurry consisting of only MSQ aerogel and Si-Ti sol was prepared and coated on expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) to form an MSQ aerogel coating layer, followed by low-temperature heat treatment. The effect of Si-Ti sol content on the microstructure of the MSQ aerogel coating layer was investigated, and the properties of a typical MSQ aerogel-layer-coated ePTFE film were evaluated. The results show that Si-Ti sol has an important role in terms of film-forming capability, surface smoothness, flexibility, and powder dropping of the MSQ aerogel coating layer. With a Si-Ti sol of 10.5 wt.% content as a binder and after heat treatment at 170 °C for 30 min, the coated ePTFE flexible thin film with a layer thickness of 30 μm shows high uniformity, integrity, and electrical insulation properties, with an elongation at break decrease over 130%, a thermal conductivity of 0.1753 W/(m·K) at 25 °C, a dielectric constant of 16.5674, and a dielectric loss of 0.06369, which can be promisingly applied in cable sheaths.

Fabrication and Advanced Imaging Characterization of Magnetic Aerogel-Based Thin Films for Water Decontamination

“…Aerogel coatings are especially popular in sensing applications, like underwater acoustic transducers made, composed of piezoelectric aerogels from lead zirconate titanate [ 23 ], humidity sensors [ 24 ], or volatile organic compound selective sensors made from carbon nanotube-based aerogel film [ 25 ]. Another great application for aerogel films from polyamide, methyl silsesquioxane, polyurethane, and silica is in composites that serve for integration into circuits like microwave strip lines or low capacitance chip connectors, intermetal dielectric layers, and dry etching or gap filling in different configurations or microelectronics [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Conductive films can be used as electrodes or supercapacitors [ 14 , 18 , 31 , 32 ].…”

Preparation and Characterization of Electrosprayed Aerogel/Polytetrafluoroethylene Microporous Materials

“…This composite was created via shear-blending the mixture of aqueous PTFE dispersion and amorphous precipitated silica nano-particles at elevated temperatures, providing excellent electrochemical performance and proven chemical stability. A methylsilsesquioxane aerogel coating layer fabricated on ePTFE thin film was described by Xingzhong Guo, the flexible and lightweight material prepared via a simple blade coating process showed good dielectric property and electrical insulation property [ 22 ]. Although these studies have successfully incorporated aerogels with PTFE, the involved fabrication methods bring about high energy consuming and environmental pollution problems since the casting of PTFE materials is mostly conducted by a molding technique [ 23 ].…”