Optimized design of TiO2-doped SiO2 aerogel composites via ice templating and multi-objective strategy

To improve the thermal insulation and mechanical properties of aerogels at high temperatures, TiO 2 hollow-sphere-doped SiO 2 fiber-reinforced SiO 2 aerogel composites (TSA) were fabricated via a crushed ice templating method. The TiO 2 hollow spheres suppressed radiative heat transfer, and the ice templating produced a uniform isotropic structure. Using the Box–Behnken response surface methodology and a multi-objective grey wolf optimization algorithm combined with TOPSIS, the optimal formulation was determined as 4.5 wt% silica sol, 9.9 wt% SiO 2 fibers, 11.8 wt% TiO 2 hollow spheres, and 73.8 wt% SiO 2 aerogel powder. The optimized sample showed a surface temperature of 42.8 °C and a compressive strength of 29.7 kPa under a 500 °C heat source. This work demonstrates an effective strategy for designing high-performance thermal insulation aerogels.