Resilient Ceramic Aerogels with Dual-Nanofiber Microlamellar Structures Constructed Using a Facile Self-Assembly Strategy for Thermal Insulation

Ceramic nanofibrous aerogels exhibit exceptional thermal stability, outstanding elasticity, and ultralow thermal conductivity, making them promising candidates for thermal insulation under extreme conditions. However, their practical applications are hindered by the complexity of the fabrication processes required to achieve balanced mechanical and insulating properties. Herein, we propose a simple self-assembly strategy based on directional negative pressure-assisted arrangement and capillary force-induced infiltration growth for constructing a ceramic nanofibrous aerogel with a microlamellar structure. The resulting aerogels exhibit a low density (47.2 mg/cm3), remarkable compressibility (60% strain recovery under 138.3 kPa stress), high thermal insulation (the thermal conductivity is 0.035 W/(m·K)), and outstanding high-temperature resistance (up to 1200 °C). This facile self-assembly strategy eliminates the need for energy-intensive post-treatments and complex templating agents, which provides an innovative and effective way to develop mechanically robust, highly thermally insulating ceramic aerogels for harsh-environment applications.