Thin aerogel materials
The present invention provides a fiber-reinforced aerogel material which can be used as insulation in thermal battery applications. The fiber-reinforced aerogel material is highly durable, flexible, and has a thermal performance that exceeds the insulation materials currently used in thermal battery applications. The fiber-reinforced aerogel insulation material can be as thin as 1 mm less, and can have a thickness variation as low as 2% or less. Also provided is a method for improving the performance of a thermal battery by incorporating a reinforced aerogel material into the thermal battery. Further provided is a casting method for producing thin fiber-reinforced aerogel materials.
1. A reinforced aerogel composition comprising:
an aerogel framework and a reinforcement material, the reinforcement material comprising a fiberglass-based material, the reinforced aerogel composition having an average thickness of 10 mm or less and a thickness variation of less than 15%.
2. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , having an average thickness of about 5 mm and a thickness variation of less than 10%.
3. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 2 , having an average thickness of about 2 mm and a thickness variation of less than 6%.
4. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 3 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition is a flexible aerogel blanket composition.
5. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a thermal conductivity of about 25 mW/mK or less.
6. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 5 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a thermal conductivity of between about 12 mW/mK and about 20 mW/mK.
7. A battery comprising the aerogel reinforced composition of claim 1 .
8. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition includes a silica-based framework.
9. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a density in a range of about 0.60 g/cc and about 0.30 g/cc.
10. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has an average thickness of 5 mm or less.
11. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has an average thickness of 3 mm or less.
12. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has an average thickness of 1 mm or less.
13. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a thermal conductivity of about 50 mW/mK or less.
14. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a thermal conductivity of between about 12 mW/mK and about 50 mW/mK.
15. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 50%.
16. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 75%.
17. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 90%.
18. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 95%.
19. The reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 25%.
20. A method of improving performance of a battery comprising incorporating the reinforced aerogel composition of claim 1 into the battery.
21. A battery comprising an aerogel material produced by a method comprising:
(a) providing a casting surface and a casting frame, wherein an inner boundary of the casting frame encloses a casting area on the casting surface;
(b) providing a sol-gel solution;
(c) placing a fiberglass-based reinforcement material into the casting area;
(d) combining the sol-gel solution with the reinforcement material in the casting area;
(e) applying pressure to the sol-gel solution to promote spreading of the sol-gel solution through the reinforcement material in the casting area until a thickness of the sol-gel solution is the same as the thickness of the casting frame;
(f) allowing the sol-gel solution to transition into a gel material, thereby forming a reinforced gel composition; and
(g) drying the reinforced gel composition to produce a reinforced aerogel composition, wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has an average thickness of less than 10 mm and a thickness variation of less than 15%.
22. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has an average thickness of less than 5 mm.
23. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has an average thickness of less than 3 mm.
24. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has an average thickness of less than 1 mm.
25. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 50%.
26. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 75%.
27. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 90%.
28. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the resulting reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 95%.
29. The battery of claim 21 , wherein the reinforced aerogel composition has a resilience of more than 25%.