Ultralight, Robust, Thermal Insulating Silica Nanolace Aerogels Derived from Pickering Emulsion Templates

Synthesis of silica aerogel insulators with ultralight weight and strong mechanical properties using a simplified technique remains challenging for functional soft materials. This study introduces a promising method for the fabrication of mechanically reinforced ultralight silica aerogels by employing attractive silica nanolace (ASNLs)-armored Pickering emulsion templates. For this, silica nanolaces (SiNLs) are fabricated by surrounding a cellulose nanofiber with necklace-shaped silica nanospheres. In order to achieve amphiphilicity, which is crucial for the stabilization of oil-in-water Pickering emulsions, hydrophobic alkyl chains and hydrophilic amine groups are grafted onto the surface of SiNLs by silica coupling reactions. Freeze-drying of ASNLs-armored Pickering emulsions has established a new type of aerogel system. The ASNLs-supported mesoporous aerogel shows 3-fold greater compressive strength, 4-fold reduced heat transfer, and a swift heat dissipation profile compared to that of the bare ASNL aerogel. Additionally, the ASNL aerogel achieves an ultralow density of 8 mg cm–3, attributed to the pore architecture generated from closely jammed emulsion drops. These results show the potential of the ASNL aerogel system, which is ultralight, mechanically stable, and thermally insulating and could be used in building services, energy-saving technologies, and the aerospace industry

Comparison of SIRs between STIM and NOSTIM in the brain regions of auditory and olfactory pathways.

<p>Mann-Whitney <i>U</i>-tests were used to compare the mean SIRs of brain regions. The <i>z</i>-values were calculated from Mann-Whitney's <i>U</i>-values and their standard deviations. SIR is the normalized signal intensity of each ROI to its adjacent Temporalis muscles.</p><p>*<i>P</i><0.05.</p

Layer-specific comparison of SIRs between STIM and NOSTIM in the primary visual cortex.

<p>Mann-Whitney <i>U</i>-tests were used to compare the mean SIRs of Vis layers. The <i>z</i>-values were calculated from Mann-Whitney's <i>U</i>-values and their standard deviations. SIR is the normalized signal intensity of each ROI to its adjacent Temporalis muscles.</p><p>*<i>P</i><0.05.</p

Spearman's rank correlation maps between the mean SIRs of each layer in cortices.

<p>(A) Correlation map of Aud for NOSTIM (B) Correlation map of Aud for STIM (C) Correlation map of Sens for NOSTIM (D) Correlation map of Sens for STIM (E) Correlation map of Vis for NOSTIM (F) Correlation map of Vis for STIM. The correlation coefficient, ρ, is indicated with color maps ranging from blue to red; blue and red indicates the weakest and strongest correlation, respectively. A strong correlation between two layers indicates that the manganese accumulations in the two are likely to be linearly proportional to each other.</p

Layer-specific comparison of SIRs between STIM and NOSTIM in the primary auditory cor<i>t</i>ex.

<p>Mann-Whitney <i>U</i>-tests were used to compare the mean SIRs of Aud layers. The <i>z</i>-values were calculated from Mann-Whitney's <i>U</i>-values and their standard deviations. SIR is the normalized signal intensity of each ROI to its adjacent Temporalis muscles.</p><p>*<i>P</i><0.05.</p

Layer-specific comparison of SIRs between STIM and NOSTIM in the primary sensory cortex.

<p>Mann-Whitney <i>U</i>-tests were used to compare the mean SIRs of Sens layers. The <i>z</i>-values were calculated from Mann-Whitney's <i>U</i>-values and their standard deviations. SIR is the normalized signal intensity of each ROI to its adjacent Temporalis muscles.</p><p>*<i>P</i><0.05.</p