Innovative Integration of Carbon Foam and Aerogel

Touchstone Research Laboratory and Aspen Aerogels have teamed to create a new carbon composite material comprised of Touchstone’s carbon foam (CFOAM) and carbon aerogel. Phase I demonstrated the feasibility of manufacturing on a laboratory scale and included foam and aerogel compositional optimization, as well as preliminary thermal and mechanical characterization. The results were that carbon aerogel reduced radiant heat transfer of the carbon foam substantially with no degradation of the foam mechanical properties. Phase II will focus on enhanced aerogel composition development to control shrinkage of the aerogel during pyrolysis and will explore other aerogel formulations such as silica and alumina. Target applications will be identified to benefit from the unique properties of low thermal conductivity, high strength, low weight, low CTE, and high use temperature. At least one identified application will be identified, and Finite Element Analysis will be utilized to model the thermal and physical response of the composite material within the required environment. A preliminary manufacturing plan will be established to allow for a cost-benefits analysis of competing/state-of-the-art materials systems. It is anticipated that this novel composite material will provide a lower-cost, high-performance, rigid insulation material for a host of MDA and DoD applications.