Preparation and Characterization of Polypropylene Nonwoven Fabric Incorporated Silica Aerogel Composite Dried in Ambient Pressure Drying Method

In recent times, sustainable ecofriendly thermo-insulation materials which is flexible and mechanically robust have grabbed worldwide remark. Nonwoven fabric and aerogel have complementary characteristics needed for desirable thermal insulation. In this research, silica aerogel/polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabric composite with desirable properties was synthesized via a two-step sol-gel process through immersing the PP nonwoven fabric into silica sol. After in situ gelation, Silica-pp Nonwoven Fabric composite gel was hydrophobized with hexamethyldisilazane, and the composites were dried at ambient pressure method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), DSC, TGA were used for the characterization of the composites. The contact angle and heat conducting performance of the composites were also determined. The results show that silica aerogel particles were efficiently covered the surface of the PP non-woven fabric and completely filled the micron size pores of the nonwoven fabric leading to a stronger hydrophobicity and higher thermal insulation performance in the aerogel composite. The findings in this study are significant and can be used for further research in aerogel-treated nonwoven fabrics