Optothermal Characterization of Nanoparticle Infused Aerogels

Here, custom fabricated nanoparticle infused aerogels are presented as a potential material to achieve super insulating and transparent opto-thermal properties. By incorporating nanoparticle solutions within the silicon dioxide (SiO₂) aerogel during the sol-gel process, unique monolithic samples were fabricated and opto-thermally characterized. The pure silica and nanoparticle infused (Zinc Oxide, Antimony doped Tin Oxide, Zirconia Dioxide) silica aerogel samples, through UV-Vis and FTIR measurements, spectrophotometrically demonstrated a solar weighted transmittance of 86, 86, 55 and 78% with measured effective thermal conductivity values of 0.035, 0.050, 0.045, 0.045 W/(m∙K) with an error threshold of ± 0.005 W/(m∙K) using a modified guarded hot-plate technique respectively. The inclusion of nanoparticles within SiO2 aerogels results in reduced transmission (heat loss) in the mid-infrared (MIR) while maintaining high transmission in the visible wavelength region. Importantly, the results show that nanoparticle infusion can be used as a flexible method to tailor the opto-thermal properties of aerogels.