Lightweight and high temperature thermal insulated ZrC/C porous material with high strength and temperature resistance up to 2000 °C

The extreme aerothermal environments resulting from hypersonic flight create significant challenges for thermal protection materials and structures. As hypersonic vehicles continue to evolve, the development of novel materials with excellent thermal resistance, low thermal conductivity, and outstanding mechanical performance has become increasingly essential. To address this issue, a porous ZrC/C material with a hierarchical structure was fabricated via a facile precursor conversion method. The unique hierarchical structure endowed the material with an ultra-low thermal conductivity of 0.08-0.31 W/(m·K) at room temperature and merely 0.44-0.89 W/(m·K) at 1000 °C, as well as a relatively high compressive strength of 0.86-7.25 MPa. More importantly, even after heat treatment at 2000 °C, the material could still retain its porous three-dimensional framework structure, exhibiting outstanding high-temperature thermal stability. Meanwhile, in comparison with other porous carbon materials, the oxidation resistance of porous ZrC/C material was enhanced. Thus, the porous ZrC/C represented a promising candidate for ultra-high temperature thermal insulation application.