Polybenzoxazine aerogels: synthesis, characterization, conversion to porous carbons, and energetic composites

摘要: Aerogels are nanoporous, low-density bulk objects, consisting of three-dimensional assemblies of nanoparticle. Structured similarly, polymeric aerogels are emerging as a mechanically strong alternative to traditional silica aerogels, which are fragile. Amongst polymeric aerogels, those based on polybenzoxazine (PBO-a type of phenolic resin), are extremely robust and comprise an economic alternative to resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogels, also a class of phenolic resins, as the main source of carbon aerogels. The drawback of the PBO chemistry has been the long (days) processing time at high-temperatures (> 130 C). Herewith, we have developed an energy-and time-efficient process to PBO aerogels by inducing acid-catalyzed gelation at room-temperature completed in a few hours. The new aerogels are compared directly with their conventional counterparts and are found equivalent or better in terms of …