Amorphous/Nanocrystalline, Lightweight, Wave-Transparent Boron Nitride Nanobelt Aerogel for Thermal Insulation

At present, the new generation of aircraft is developing in the direction of high speed, long endurance, high mobility, and repeatability. Some studies have shown that the surface temperature of the radome can reach even 1800 °C as the flight speed of the aircraft increases. However, the antenna inside the radome cannot serve at this temperature. Consequently, a thermal insulation system with electromagnetic wave-transparent ability and high-temperature resistance is urgently needed to protect the antenna from working normally. An aerogel material is known as “solid smoke,” with the lowest density currently. Because of its high porosity (>90%) and the characteristics of nanopore size, its application in the field of thermal insulation always draws the attention of researchers. In this work, a novel amorphous/nanocrystalline boron nitride (BN) nanobelt aerogel was synthesized successfully. The BN aerogel shows lightweight (18 mg/cm³), good thermal stability (1400 °C under an inert atmosphere and 750 °C under an air atmosphere), wideband wave-transparent performance (dielectric constant of 1.03 and dielectric loss of 0.016 at 4-18 GHz), and thermal insulation property (43 mW/(m·K) at room temperature and 73 mW/(m·K) at 600 °C). The BN aerogel is a suitable candidate as an electromagnetic wave-transparent thermal insulator and fire-resistant material. What is more, the structural stability of the BN aerogel is good (Young’s modulus remains basically constant during the fatigue tests), and the energy loss coefficient (∼0.56) is high; it also has the potential to be a mechanical energy dissipative material. The study on the amorphous/nanocrystalline BN nanobelt aerogel provides a new idea for structure design and performance optimization of a high-temperature electromagnetic functional insulation material.