Jung Woo Shin  Young Gyu Jeong

Vol. 55,  No. 6, pp. 444-449, Dec.  2018
10.12772/TSE.2018.55.444

Silica aerogel Nonwoven melt-blowing Polypropylene Thermal conductivity Thermal insulation

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To develop heat insulation fabrics with lightweight, low volume and excellent thermal insulation properties, in this study, a binder-free polypropylene/silica aerogel nonwoven fabric with an area density of ~79.7 g/m2 was fabricated via a facile melt-blowing process, and its structure, thermal conductivity and thermal insulation properties were investigated. For comparison, a polyester hollow fiber nonwoven having a similar area density of ~84.6 g/m2 was prepared by needle-punching. Additionally, a series of composite nonwoven fabrics was prepared by layering the melt-blown polypropylene/silica aerogel nonwoven and the polyester hollow fiber nonwoven in various combinations, and their thermal insulation properties and thermal conductivity were analyzed. Scanning electron microscopic analyses revealed that 5 wt% silica aerogel added during the melt-blown process was adhered well to polypropylene fiber surfaces of the nonwoven fabric. As a result, the melt-blown polypropylene/silica aerogel nonwoven fabric exhibited a low thermal conductivity of 43 mW/m·K and relatively high level of thermal insulation performance, although its thickness (~1.5 mm) was lower than that (~2.2 mm) of needle-punched polyester hollow fiber nonwoven with a similar area density. The thermal conductivity was lowered and thermal insulation performance was improved, as the melt-blown polypropylene/silica aerogel nonwoven fabric was layered. It was also found that increasing the number of melt-blown polypropylene/silica aerogel nonwoven fabric layers in the composite nonwoven fabrics layered in various combinations decreased the thermal conductivity and improved the thermal insulating properties.