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In this study, a new type of thermal insulation protective material with good thermodynamic properties was successfully prepared. Using boron hybrid silicone rubber (B-SR) as matrix and hollow ceramic microsphere (HCM), hollow silica microsphere (HSM) and hydroxy silicone oil foaming agents (OH-3#) as thermal insulation phase, a single thermal insulation phase (HCM/B-SR, HSM/B-SR, OH-3#/B-SR) was prepared, and the influence of single thermal insulation function on the performance of thermal insulation material was studied. Based on the influence of single thermal insulation function phase on the performance of thermal insulation material, orthogonal experiment was designed to study the influence of composite thermal insulation function phase on the performance of thermal insulation material. The influence of single and composite thermal insulation function phase on thermal performance and mechanical properties of insulation materials were studied by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis plate thermal conductivity meter and universal testing machine, respectively. Through the orthogonal design experiment and further optimization, the final formula of boron hybrid silicone rubber-based thermal insulation protection material was obtained. When B-SR: HCM: HGM: OH-3# = 100: 15: 25: 18, the comprehensive performance of multiphase composite insulation materials was the best. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of the thermal insulation material under the formula is 0.064 W/(m K), T 10 is 549.9 °C, T max is 621.3 °C, R 1000 is 77.5%, tensile strength is 2.43 MPa, elongation at break is 73.6%, compression modulus is 11.7 MPa, hardness is 43°. The good synergistic effect of different thermal insulation function phases ensured the technical requirements of warhead thermal insulation protection materials for low thermal conductivity, high heat resistance and structural strength to the greatest extent. This study is of great significance for preparing highly efficient thermal insulation materials through the organic combination of HM filling and chemical foaming.

Thermal insulation composites are widely used in civil and military applications; however, it is difficult to achieve the synergy of multiple technical objectives such as lightweight, thermal insulation, high pressure resistance and high-temperature resistance by adopting traditional preparation techniques. In this study, a novel carbon-graphite thermal insulation material was rapidly prepared by exploiting the micro-thermal press additive manufacturing forming technology, and these multiple objectives were simultaneously achieved by introducing a large number of closed pores. It was found that the percentage of closed pores in the carbon-graphite insulation was increased by increasing the forming density or the amount of thermosetting phenolic resin added, but the thermal conductivity increased in parallel with the compressive strength, while the addition of pre-covered expandable graphite was able to achieve the synergy of high compressive strength and low thermal conductivity. When the content of thermosetting phenolic resin was 25 wt%, forming density was 1.2 g·cm−3, and expandable graphite was clad twice, the prepared carbon-graphite insulation exhibited a closed porosity/porosity ratio, compressive strength, and thermal conductivity of 48.92%, 16.432 MPa, and 0.743 W·m −1 K−1, which has the advantages of lightweight, high compressive strength, heat insulation and high-temperature resistance and has good prospects for industrial applications.

Solar water heaters are a type of renewable energy technology that converts solar energy into heat to warm water. Solar water heaters are becoming increasingly popular due to their eco-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and low maintenance requirements. In this study, low-cost solar collectors were developed using date palm waste (dried leaves) as thermal insulation. Date palm waste is a readily available and abundant resource in many regions, and using it in solar collectors can help reduce waste and promote sustainability. Two solar collectors were fabricated using crushed date palm waste, with one collector using the waste alone and the other mixed with starch. Tests were conducted in accordance with the European standard EN 12975–2-2006 and modeled the thermal behavior of the collectors. The results obtained showed that the prototypes of solar collectors performed well and exhibited behavior comparable to that of a commercial solar collector, with a production cost up to three times less. The use of date palm waste as thermal insulation in solar collectors is an innovative approach that aligns with the principles of sustainability and environmental friendliness. Furthermore, it was found that the leveled heating cost ( LCOH ) and the simple payback period ( SPP ) were 0.952 US$ kWh −1 and 2.472 years for the prototype without starch and 0.926 US$ kWh −1 and 2.397 years for the prototype with starch.

The requisition for maintainable constructions has been greatly raising over the last several years. To fulfil the maintainability necessities of a construction, decisions or changes must be done to a construction in the course of the preconstruction and design steps. This can be plausible utilizing building information modelling. To indicate the utilize of building information modelling in maintainable planning, an example nursing-house is received for modelling research. The energy efficiency of nursing-home is analysed utilizing Autodesk Revit and Green Building Studio simulation which contained different characteristics such as annual heating and cooling loads, annual energy usage. Through using the utilize of different building, insulation and roof materials in the nursing-home modelling, the nursing-home modelling is changed into a greener construction modelling. In addition, the effects of using green walls on the facade of the building on the energy performance were analysed. Utilizing simulation, the utilize of non-natural sources can be dramatically decreased through substituting for them with the utilize of sustainable natural sources by that means energy saving. Building information modelling has substantiated to be effective in providing maintainability with alternative material’s assessment and earlier decision-making. Furthermore, this study employed an integrated new MCDM model to evaluate the performance of four natural stones for utilize in a nursing home setting.

Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is an important power device for the conversion, control, and transmission of semiconductor power, and is used in various industrial fields. The IGBT module currently uses silicone gel as an insulating layer. Since higher power density and more severe temperature applications have become the trend according to the development of electronic device industry, insulating materials with improved heat resistance and insulation performances should be developed. In this study, we intended to synthesize a new insulating material with enhanced thermal stability and reduced thermal conductivity. Poly(imide-siloxane) (PIS) was prepared and crosslinked through a hydrosilylation reaction to obtain a semi-solid Crosslinked PIS. Thermal decomposition temperature, thermal conductivity, optical transparency, dielectric constant, and rheological property of the Crosslinked PIS were investigated and compared to those of a commercial silicone gel. The Crosslinked PIS showed high thermal stability and low thermal conductivity, along with other desirable properties, and so could be useful as an IGBT-insulating material.

Europe calls for a transition to the circular economy model based on recycling, reuse, the proper design of products, and repair. Recycling requires energy and chemical products for waste processing; on the contrary, reusing reduces the impact of transportation and expands the life of materials that cannot be recycled. This article highlights the characteristics of selected end-of-life materials; it aims to raise awareness among manufacturers to consider products’ conscious design to facilitate their reuse in different sectors. Panels 7 cm thick, realized by assembling cardboard packaging, egg boxes, bulk polyester, and felt, have been experimentally tested to understand whether they can be installed indoors to improve thermal and acoustic comfort. The panels’ equivalent thermal conductivity λeq measured through the guarded hot plate method is 0.071 W/mK. Acoustic tests have been performed in a sound transmission room and a reverberation room. The weighted sound reduction index Rw is 19 dB, the weighted sound absorption coefficient αw is 0.30, and the noise reduction coefficient NRC is 0.64. The measured properties have been compared to those of commercial materials, and the results show that the panels have interesting properties from the thermal and acoustic points of view. They could be employed in the building sector and in disadvantaged contexts where low-income people cannot afford commercial insulating materials. Although other factors, such as fire resistance, need to be evaluated, these results show that the proposed approach is feasible.

This study investigates the kinetics data of glass wool (GW) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation materials used in cladding systems using a systematic framework. The determination of appropriate kinetic properties, such as pre-exponential factors, activation energy and reaction orders, is crucial for accurately modelling the full-scale fire performance of insulation materials. The primary objective of this research is to extract thermal and kinetics data of XPS and GW insulation materials employed in high-rise buildings. To obtain these properties, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is conducted at four different heating rates: 5, 10, 15 and 20 K/min. The TGA results serve as the basis for determining the kinetic properties using a combination of model-free and model-based methods. The outcomes of this study are expected to be highly beneficial in defining the pyrolysis reaction steps and extracting kinetics data for fire modelling of such insulation materials. This information will enhance the understanding of the fire behaviour and performance of these materials during fire incidents, aiding in developing more accurate fire models and improving fire safety strategies for cladding systems in high-rise buildings.

Depending on their structure and order (individual, films, bundled, buckypapers, etc.), carbon nanotubes (CNTs) demonstrate different values of thermal conductivity, from the level of thermal insulation with the thermal conductivity of 0.1 W/mK to such high values as 6600 W/mK. This review article concentrates on analyzing the articles on thermal conductivity of CNT networks. It describes various measurement methods, such as the 3-ω method, bolometric, steady-state method and their variations, hot-disk method, laser flash analysis, thermoreflectance method and Raman spectroscopy, and summarizes the results obtained using those techniques. The article provides the main factors affecting the value of thermal conductivity, such as CNT density, number of defects in their structure, CNT ordering within arrays, direction of measurement in relation to their length, temperature of measurement and type of CNTs. The practical methods of using CNT networks and the potential directions of future research in that scope were also described.

Among the recently insulating materials broadly utilized in high voltage outdoor insulation, silicone rubber (SiR) has gotten the foremost consideration. Actually, SiR is becoming an efficient countermeasure to insulator contamination issues. To enhance different properties of polymeric materials, micro- and nanofillers have been used for dielectric applications. In this study, micron-sized titanium dioxide (TiO2) and nano-sized TiO2 fillers were added to the SiR matrix to improve electrical and mechanical properties. Dielectric strength, tensile strength, and elongation at break tests were monitored. Also, a scanning electron microscope was carried out. The samples were prepared by mixing micro-TiO2 into SiR with the content of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt% and also mixing nano-TiO2 into SiR with the content of 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt%. A feed-forward neural network technique was used to estimate the dielectric strength in different conditions and different percentages of fillers. Adding nano TiO2 filler enhances the electrical and mechanical properties of SiR composites. SiR with 5 wt% nano TiO2 showed the best improvement in electrical and mechanical properties.

Thermal management has been considered as a key issue for high-power electronics. Thermal interface materials (TIMs) play an extremely important role in the field of thermal management. Owing to their excellent insulation, mechanical properties and low processing costs, functional polymers have become the popular candidate for preparing TIMs. In order to develop high thermally conductive TIMs, the inorganic fillers with high thermal conductivity are generally composited with polymers. For this purpose, some key technologies are needed to improve the dispersibility of fillers to reduce interfacial thermal resistance and increase thermal conduction channels. This paper reviews recent progresses on effective methods for improving thermal conductivity, which mainly include filler functionalization and processing, filler hybridization and coating, filler orientation and network. After implementing these strategies, the interfacial interaction between fillers and polymers, the synergy effect of different fillers and the thermal conduction pathway inside the matrix can be highly improved, hence enhancing the thermal conductivity of TIMs.Graphic abstract