State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi'an, China.
Nat Commun. 2023 Jun 1;14(1):3178. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38664-6.
Carbon aerogels are elastic, mechanically robust and fatigue resistant and are known for their promising applications in the fields of soft robotics, pressure sensors etc. However, these aerogels are generally fragile and/or easily deformable, which limits their applications. Here, we report a synthesis strategy for fabricating highly compressible and fatigue-resistant aerogels by assembling interconnected carbon tubes. The carbon tube aerogels demonstrate near-zero Poisson's ratio, exhibit a maximum strength over 20 MPa and a completely recoverable strain up to 99%. They show high fatigue resistance (less than 1.5% permanent degradation after 1000 cycles at 99% strain) and are thermally stable up to 2500 °C in an Ar atmosphere. Additionally, they possess tunable conductivity and electromagnetic shielding. The combined mechanical and multi-functional properties offer an attractive material for the use in harsh environments.
碳气凝胶具有弹性、机械坚固性和耐疲劳性，在软机器人、压力传感器等领域有广泛的应用前景。然而，这些气凝胶通常很脆弱和/或容易变形，这限制了它们的应用。在这里，我们报告了一种通过组装相互连接的碳管来制备高可压缩性和耐疲劳性气凝胶的合成策略。碳管气凝胶表现出接近零的泊松比，具有超过 20 MPa 的最大强度和可完全恢复的应变高达 99%。它们表现出高耐疲劳性（在 99%应变下循环 1000 次后，永久降解小于 1.5%），在 Ar 气氛中可稳定在 2500°C 以上。此外，它们还具有可调的导电性和电磁屏蔽性能。综合的机械性能和多功能特性为在恶劣环境下的应用提供了一种有吸引力的材料。
