Becker T., Pico D., Lipin J., Lehmann T., Lüking A., Hitz M., Gries T., 2019, Novel Insulation Material Based on Basalt Fibres and Silica Aerogels, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 73, 49-54.
Basalt fibre reinforced silica aerogel composites with two different fibre lengths and two different fibre volume contents were successfully produced and analysed. After aging and drying of the fibre reinforced aerogel specimens, the geometrical data as well as the weight of each specimen were registered. The microstructure of selected specimens was recorded by tomography. Three-point bending tests were carried out in order to evaluate the effects of the fibrous reinforcement. The shrinkage of the samples was reduced with increasing fibre volume fractions. Specimen with a fibre length of 3.2 mm and a fibre volume fraction of 1.5 % showed the most homogeneous fibre distribution. Specimens with a fibre length of 12.7 mm fibre and a fibre volume fraction of 1.5 % demonstrated the best performance during the three-point bending test, achieving a fivefold increase in the maximum bending stress compared to pure silica aerogel samples with up to 33 kPa.
