Integration of Aerogel Cryogenic Insulation with Carbon Fiber Composites for Hydrogen Storage

Aerogels, characterized by their low density and high porosity, possess excellent thermal insulation properties. It is worth exploring whether the materials obtained by combining aerogels and carbon fibers can achieve a better thermal insulation effect for the application of liquid hydrogen storage tanks. The focus of this thesis consists of selecting the vacuum bagging method for the combination of composite laminates and aerogel blankets and evaluating the mechanical properties of the obtained specimens through T-peel experiments and microscopy observations. The aerogel-bond specimen has an average adhesive fracture toughness of 230 J/m2, in contrast to the polymer-bond specimen’s 660 J/m2. Consequently, the mechanical properties of the polymer-bond specimens surpass those of the aerogel-bond specimens. In this work, thermal conductivity is used to characterize the thermal insulation properties of the materials. The thermal conductivity of the composite specimens is measured by the heat flux meter method and their thermal insulation properties are evaluated. According to the results, the integration of M78.1 and Cryogel-Z has a thermal conductivity of 0.0262 W/m·k, at 50 °C. And its thermal conductivity in a 75 °C environment is 0.0278 W/m·k. This suggests that it also has excellent thermal insulation properties. Additionally, the simulation results are in agreement with the experimental results.