Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Scalable, Hydrophobic And Highly-Stretchable Poly(Isocyanurate-Urethane) Aerogels, Sadeq Malakooti, Saman Rostami, Habel Gitogo Churu, Huiyang Luo, Jenna Clark, Fabiola Casarez, Owen Rettenmaier, Soheil Daryadel, Majid Minary-Jolandan, Chariklia Sotiriou-Leventis, Nicholas Leventis, Hongbing Lu

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Scalable, low-density and flexible aerogels offer a unique combination of excellent mechanical properties and scalable manufacturability. Herein, we report the fabrication of a family of low-density, ambient-dried and hydrophobic poly(isocyanurate-urethane) aerogels derived from a triisocyanate precursor. The bulk densities ranged from 0.28 to 0.37 g cm^-3 with porosities above 70% v/v. The aerogels exhibit a highly stretchable behavior with a rapid increase in the Young's modulus with bulk density (slope of log-log plot > 6.0). In addition, the aerogels are very compressible (more than 80% compressive strain) with high shape recovery rate (more than 80% recovery in 30 s). Under …