%0 Journal Article
%T Organic solvents-free and ambient-pressure drying melamine formaldehyde resin aerogels with homogeneous structures, outstanding mechanical strength and flame retardancy.
%A Wang T
%A Xu J
%A Zhan YJ
%A He L
%A Fu ZC
%A Deng JN
%A An WL
%A Zhao HB
%A Chen MJ
%J Int J Biol Macromol
%V 273
%N 0
%D 2024 Jul 31
%M 38825282
%F 8.025
%R 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.132811
%X Atmospheric drying method for fabricating aerogels is considered the most promising way for casting aerogels on a large scale. However, the organic solvent exchange, remaining environmental pollution risk, is a crucial step in mitigating the impact of surface tension during the atmospheric drying process, especially for wet gel formed through the alkoxy-derived sol-gel process, such as melamine-formaldehyde resin (MF) aerogel. Herein, a tough polymer-assisted in situ polymerization was proposed to fabricate MF resin aerogel with a combination of mechanical toughness and strength, enabling it to withstand the capillary force during water evaporation. The monolithic MF resin aerogel through the sol-gel method can be directly prepared without additional network strengthening or organic solvent exchange. The resulting MF resin aerogel exhibits a homogeneous as well as hierarchical structure with macropores and mesopores (~6 μm and ~5 nm), high compressive modulus of 31.8 MPa, self-extinguishing property, and high-temperature thermal insulation with 97 % heat decrease for butane flame combustion. This work presents a straightforward and environmentally friendly method for fabricating MF resin aerogels with nanostructures and excellent performance in open conditions, exhibiting various applications.