Preparation and fine thermal insulation performance of Gd2Zr2O7/ZrO2 composite fibers

Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 /ZrO 2 (GZC) composite fibers were prepared by electro-spinning method. The XRD , XPS and Raman results showed that there were three crystalline phases, tetragonal phase ZrO 2 , cubic phase ZrO 2 and defect fluorite phase Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 in GZC composite fibers. GZC fibers remained an intact fiber texture up to 1400 °C according to SEM photographs. The thermal conductivity of GZC fibers was between 0.173 W/(m·K) at 400 °C and 0.309 W/(m·K) at 800 °C, which was lower than that of 7YSZ under the same experimental conditions. The fiber sheet with density about 3.5 g/cm 3 has thermal shrinkage less than 3% at 1400 °C. Hence, GZC fibers could be used as refractories for heat protection.