Scalable Fabrication of Lightweight, Thermally Insulating and Ablation-Resistant SiC/SiOC Hybrid Aerogel Composites Reinforced with High-Porosity Needle-Punched Quartz Fiber Felts
- 1School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
Abstract
High-speed flight demands thermal protection materials combining lightweightness, high strength, efficient thermal insulation, and long-term oxidative ablation resistance. Herein, a ternary hybrid preceramic polymer system consisting of liquid polycarbosilane, polymethylhydrosiloxane, and 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-1,3,5,7-tetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane was designed through precise control of molecular structure and polymerization kinetics. The composite precursor sol was infiltrated into a high-porosity needle-punched quartz fiber felt via the resin transfer molding method, yielding an integrated thermal protection/insulation material with a bulk density below 0.40 g cm−3. The resulting composite exhibited a thermal conductivity as low as 0.042 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature and 0.082 W m−1 K−1 at 1000 °C, along with a compressive strength of 7.97 MPa at 10% strain, demonstrating outstanding mechanical performance. In ground-based arc-jet ablation tests (500 MJ m−2, 1500 s, ~1400 °C surface), LHRC-05 showed a back-face temperature rise of only 160.5 °C across a 25 mm thick specimen, with a linear ablation rate as low as 0.53 μm s−1, accompanied by a mass ablation rate of 0.021 g s−1 (near-zero volumetric recession). These results demonstrated that the fiber-reinforced SiC/SiOC aerogel composite integrated low density, high mechanical strength with efficient thermal insulation and excellent ablation resistance, making it a promising candidate for thermal protection systems in aerospace applications.
Related
- Mechanical, ballistic, and dynamic behaviour of rGO-reinforced kevlar–basalt/epoxy hybrid composites for lightweight engineering applications
- Lightweight Mechanical Performance of Hybrid Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 Nano-Reinforced Jute Fiber Biocomposites with Polyester and Epoxy Matrices for Potential Automotive Exterior Applications
- Hybrid-Reinforced Phytocannabinoid-Functionalized PMMA Denture Base Composites: An In Vitro Study
- Fabrication and Performance of Thermally Triggered Active Fire-Extinguishing Patches Based on Perfluorohexanone Microcapsule-Modified Epoxy Resin
- Dynamic Interactions and Deformation Mechanisms in Nanocutting of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Ni-Based Composites
BibTeX
@article{sun2026scalable,
title = {{Scalable Fabrication of Lightweight, Thermally Insulating and Ablation-Resistant SiC/SiOC Hybrid Aerogel Composites Reinforced with High-Porosity Needle-Punched Quartz Fiber Felts}},
author = {Furui Sun and Yang Yu and Bing Wang and Yi Liu and Liuchun Zheng},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18212694},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2694},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Scalable Fabrication of Lightweight, Thermally Insulating and Ablation-Resistant SiC/SiOC Hybrid Aerogel Composites Reinforced with High-Porosity Needle-Punched Quartz Fiber Felts
AU - Furui Sun
AU - Yang Yu
AU - Bing Wang
AU - Yi Liu
AU - Liuchun Zheng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18212694
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2694
AB - High-speed flight demands thermal protection materials combining lightweightness, high strength, efficient thermal insulation, and long-term oxidative ablation resistance. Herein, a ternary hybrid preceramic polymer system consisting of liquid polycarbosilane, polymethylhydrosiloxane, and 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-1,3,5,7-tetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane was designed through precise control of molecular structure and polymerization kinetics. The composite precursor sol was infiltrated into a high-porosity needle-punched quartz fiber felt via the resin transfer molding method, yielding an integrated thermal protection/insulation material with a bulk density below 0.40 g cm−3. The resulting composite exhibited a thermal conductivity as low as 0.042 W m−1 K−1 at room temperature and 0.082 W m−1 K−1 at 1000 °C, along with a compressive strength of 7.97 MPa at 10% strain, demonstrating outstanding mechanical performance. In ground-based arc-jet ablation tests (500 MJ m−2, 1500 s, ~1400 °C surface), LHRC-05 showed a back-face temperature rise of only 160.5 °C across a 25 mm thick specimen, with a linear ablation rate as low as 0.53 μm s−1, accompanied by a mass ablation rate of 0.021 g s−1 (near-zero volumetric recession). These results demonstrated that the fiber-reinforced SiC/SiOC aerogel composite integrated low density, high mechanical strength with efficient thermal insulation and excellent ablation resistance, making it a promising candidate for thermal protection systems in aerospace applications.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -