Nanocellulose aerogels as thermal insulation materials

Abstract

There is a high demand of energy consumption due to the increasing population, industrial expansion, and development plans. However, the increasing cost of energy and the negative impact on the environment by energy production plants have resulted in the need to find means to substantially reduce energy consumption. Buildings are one of the main factors contributing to the world energy consumption. About two-thirds of the total energy is used for the buildings. It is essential to reduce energy consumption of buildings by finding more effective thermal insulation materials. Cellulose is a green, cheap, and abundant material with low thermal conductivity. Its combination with aerogel structure forms a novel and effective heat insulation material known as cellulose aerogel. Cellulose aerogels can be fabricated from bacterial cellulose, wood/paper pulps, or cellulosic wastes. The aerogels become water-repellent after being treated with silane reagents via a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. They show highly porous structures with good flexibility, high stability, and extremely low thermal conductivities. These characteristics make them promising for thermal insulation applications.