Breakthrough carbon nanotube material sets new thermal insulation record

Chinese researchers have developed a new carbon nanotubes insulation which can withstand high temperatures up to 2,600 ° C, overlapping all other materials used for extreme temperature applications. This breakthrough could be used for thermal shields on hypersonic vehicles and spacecrafts during the start of the school year in the atmosphere and other high temperature environments.

The spacecraft, jet engines and industrial ovens need materials that can handle heat without melt, crack or let the heat out. However, high temperature thermal insulation materials (TIM) have major drawbacks. They fail at temperatures above 1,500 ° C or are not very effective in preventing heat from passing. This means that to obtain a decent amount of insulation, you need to use more equipment, adding bulk and weight.

This is why scientists are looking for new advanced materials that can effectively block heat while being thin and light. In an article published in Advanced functional materialsResearchers at the University of Tsinghua describe how they stacked and injured very thin and flexible films of carbon nanotubes to create a new insulation material called Films de nanotubes de carbon Super aligned (Sacnt-SF). This revolutionary material blocks heat more effectively than any other insulation known at high temperatures.

“Sacnt-SF has an effective thermal conductivity of 0.004 WM⁻¹ K⁻¹ at room temperature and 0.03 WM⁻¹ K⁻¹ At 2,600 ° C, outperforming all TIMs reported to date: “The researchers have written in their article.

The Sacnt-SF insulation property is due to a combination of factors. The stacked nanotubes are mainly space, so there is not a lot of solid material for the heat to cross. And the gaps between them are so tiny that they block the movement of gas molecules, preventing them from transferring heat.

In addition to its superior insulation, Sacnt-SF is also remarkably durable. It can withstand repeated heating and cooling cycles and remains stable up to 3,000 ° C in an argon atmosphere. And unlike the bulky insulation equipment, this innovative substance is made of thin paper movies which can easily bend over a variety of shapes.

There is a lot of excitement about Sacnt-SF and its many potential uses. For example, it could be used to create better thermal shields for spaceships and hypersonic vehicles, and this could improve the efficiency of extremely hot ovens and reactors. Because it is thin and flexible, it could also be wrapped around complex electronic components to protect them from heat.

The next challenge

However, a significant drawback of this new carbon nanotubes insulation is that it oxidizes above 500 ° C in the air. This means that it cannot be used in unprotected environments with oxygen at high temperatures because it would burn.

Thus, the research team plans to add protective coatings which will allow them to operate in environments where oxygen is present at high temperatures, such as jet engines.

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