High-strength and high-temperature-resistant multilayer interconnected polyimide paper derived from anisotropic aerogel via a hot-extrusion strategy for aerospace applications

• Published in: Applied surface science 2023-02, Vol.611, p.155592, Article 155592
• Main Authors: Jia, Tingting, Chen, Hao, Fan, Zhen, Xu, Huikang, Huang, Jinlong, Wang, Pengtao, Xing, Hao, Jia, He, Fan, Xupeng, Zhou, Haoran, Wang, Dezhi, Qu, Chunyan, Gohy, Jean-François, Liu, Changwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerogel; Polyimide; Strength; Temperature resistance
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.155592

An anisotropic aerogel hot-extrusion strategy is designed to convert polyimide aerogels into aerogel-based paper. The multilayer interconnected aerogel-based paper exhibits excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties, and the mechanical properties remain great at high temperatures. This aerogel-based paper has huge application potential in the aerospace field. [Display omitted] •Multi-layer interconnected aerogel based paper was successfully prepared by anisotropic aerogel hot extrusion strategy.•Aerogel-based papers exhibit excellent thermal stability and stable mechanical properties (PI-1: 216.28 MPa at 25 °C).•The tensile strength of PI-1 was 3 times that of commercial polyimide paper and 24 times that of aramid paper at 400 °C.•Aerogel-based paper maintain stable mechanical property after 5000 cycles. The continuous improvement of papermaking technology has attracted widespread attention. However, the prevention of high-temperature decomposition and a subsequent decline in mechanical strength is still a significant challenge with current papermaking technology. Herein, a newly developed multilayer interconnected polyimide aerogel-based paper was successfully prepared via an anisotropic aerogel hot-extrusion strategy. Precursor solutions of highly rigid benzimidazole units containing intermolecular hydrogen bonds and linear rod-like benzimide units were first prepared. Anisotropic precursor polyimide (PAAS) aerogels with a thickness of 3 mm were then manufactured by unidirectional freeze-drying. Then, aerogel-based papers with a thickness of 40 μm and microstructure multilayer interconnected properties were obtained by a hot extrusion strategy and a thermal imidization process. This polyimide structural paper exhibited excellent thermal and mechanical properties. Through the design of micro and macro structures, the tensile strength of the aerogel-based paper was much higher than that of commercial paper at both room temperature and 400 ℃. This aerogel-based paper also exhibited high-temperature cycle stability, high flexibility, and good stretchable bending properties. The successful preparation of this aerogel-based paper demonstrates the feasibility of the hot extrusion strategy. This work provides a new papermaking technology method and broadens the application field of paper.