Preparation and thermo-mechanical properties of modified gelatin reinforced SiO₂ aerogels

Due to the poor mechanical properties of SiO₂ aerogels, this study prepared the composite aerogels using the co-gel method with modified gelatin and SiO₂ sol. Gelatin is used as a reinforcing phase to enhance the performance of the composite aerogels. The study investigated the impact of varying concentrations of gelatin (1.7 %, 1.9 %, 2.1 %, 2.3 %) and silane coupling agent (1 %, 1.5 %, 2 %, 2.5 %, 3 %) on the thermal-mechanical properties of the composite aerogels. Various tests were conducted to assess the thermal-mechanical properties of the composite aerogels, including thermal stability, thermal conductivity, compression resistance, and fire-retardant. Additionally, the surface morphology and chemical composition were analyzed using SEM, TEM, FTIR, and XRD to explore the correlation with the thermal-mechanical properties. The results indicated that the composite aerogels exhibited outstanding overall performance with 2.1 % gelatin and 3 % silane coupling agent.