BJ-02. Tailoring Porosity and Fiber Alignment for Enhanced Infrared Radiation Suppression in Polymeric Materials (2020-2025)

Abstract

Polymeric thermal insulation has also developed significantly causing a growing need and breadth of applications of energy efficient, lightweight and multi-purposing solutions in a wide variety industry including construction and aerospace as well as in the military and wearable technologies. These materials take advantage of the calculated design and fine management of porous architectures, spanning to microscopic fiber networks to nanoscale aerogels, to experience ultralow thermal conductivities through a combination of frustrating conductive, convective and radiative heat transfer pathways. More recent methods of fabrication, including coaxial spinning, freeze-drying and additive manufacturing have made possible the creation of fibers and foams wherein details of porosity and morphology can be highly tuned, producing materials with both better thermal insulation and mechanical integrity. Combined with computational modeling and machine learning, experimental characterization modalities - such as tomography, infrared thermography and laser metrology- provided in-depth information about the emerging complex structure-performance relationships, which in turn makes it easier to optimize and scale-up. New materials include polymer nanomaterial hybrid aerogels, anisotropically aligned fibers and functionalized surfaces, extending their capabilities to extreme environments of cryogenic down to high temperature regimes and up, and simultaneously functional schemes at lower temperatures including radiation shielding, electromagnetic interference suppression and active thermal macro temperature control. The intersection of these fields therefore leads to polymeric thermal insulation materials being the enabling factors in bringing down to unprecedented levels of energy use, capacity to improve human comfort, and enabler to implement next-generation high-performance physical structure.