Metal-graphene-synergized melamine aerogel with robust elasticity and flame-retardancy for thermal-insulated-packaging industry

Lightweight mechanically-resilient three-dimensional (3D) porous materials with a low thermal conductivity and high flame retardancy are urgently desired for the fast-growing thermal-insulated-packaging industry. Commercial petroleum-based polymeric insulation materials, alike expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polypropylene (EPP) are easily ignitable to create a risk of fire. Herein, we present a melamine (MF)-based thermal-insulating aerogel via a facile, scalable and low-cost metal ions induced synergic crosslinking polymerization strategy. Specially, without brittleness and fragility for conventional MF, the cobalt-graphene-synergized MF aerogel exhibits outstanding compressibility (rapid recovery from 80% strain and structural integrity after 100 cycles at strain (epsilon) = 50%), which can be attributed to the unique hierarchical metal-coordinated MF and graphene oxide (GO) crosslinking network structure. Moreover, the compressible MF-based composite aerogel also possesses great thermal insulating property (lower thermal conductivity (27 mW m(-1) K-1)) and fire-retardant property (lower peak heat release rate (55 W g(-1))), that are superior to currently commercial packaging materials. Encouraged by its extraordinary advantages in both synthesis and property, the metal-incorporated MF-GO composite aerogel can serve as a much more competitive product than traditional polymers in the field of packaging insulation.

Automated summary

A melamine-based thermal-insulating aerogel with outstanding compressibility, thermal insulation, and fire-retardant properties has been developed. It is more competitive than traditional polymers and can find wider application in the field of packaging insulation.