For aerospace applications, new thermal insulation materials that are flexible, and  capable of enduring high heat flux are required.  For example, inflatable aerodynamic decelerators used to slow spacecraft for entry, descent and landing operations need flexible insulation.  Polyimide aerogels are possible candidates for this application because they are low density, have high porosity and high surface area, and better mechanical properties over silica aerogels and can be made into flexible thin films.  We report the synthesis of a series of octa(aminophenyl) silsesquioxane (OAPS) cross-inked polyimide aerogels with 3,3',4,4'-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and different combinations of diamines.  We wish to optimize the properties of the crosslinked polyimide aerogel by studying the structure property relationships of the resulting OAPS cross-linked aerogels in thick parts and thin films.  The effect of the different diamines on density, shrinkage, porosity, surface area, mechanical properties, moisture resistance and thermal properties will be discussed.

Optimization of properties of cross-linked polyimide aerogels for high temperature aerospace applications

245th National Meeting (2013)

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