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Varying Synthesis Parameters of Potato Starch Aerogel for Aerospace Applications
Summary
Researchers optimized synthesis parameters for potato starch aerogels — lightweight, biodegradable alternatives to fragile silica or toxic-solvent-based polymer aerogels — finding that adjustments to starch concentration, crosslinking, and drying conditions produced materials with properties potentially suitable for aerospace insulation applications.
Aerogels have the potential for usage in many daily and high-tech aerospace applications. Silica aerogels are fragile, while organic aerogels are much tougher, but they are both generally synthesized using toxic solvents. Biodegradable aerogels, if they possess similar properties as polymer aerogels, could be widely utilized in many aerospace applications and offer environmental benefits. In this work, potato starch aerogels were systematically studied. The potato starch concentration, the amount of plasticizer (glycerol), and an acid source (acetic acid) were varied. The relationship of the precursors on potato starch aerogel's properties, such as density, shrinkage, porosity, BET surface area, mechanical properties, and thermal conductivities, were researched. The resulting potato starch aerogels possess suitable density, Young's modulus, and thermal conductivity for use in many aerospace applications.