Study on the thermal insulation performance of the core–shell skeleton graphene oxide/carbon composite aerogel

Phenolic resin (PR) was grafted onto the surface of graphene oxide (GO) through π–π conjugation and chemical bonding. After carbonization, organic compounds turned into carbon layers with a thickness of about 10 nm and coated on the surface of GO formed a core–shell structure. Besides, the adiabatic interface formed during organic carbonization can effectively connect the aerogels into a three-dimensional network. The optimum mass ratio of GO was determined to be 10 wt% in the preparation of the precursor aerogel. The adiabatic interfaces (carbon) between GO lamellae could effectively reduce the solid phase heat transfer in aerogels (thermal conductivity is 0.0457 W m−1 K−1). At the same time, the existence of GO also ensured better mechanical properties of GO/carbon composite aerogel (compressive strength is 2.43 MPa) compared with the pure carbon aerogel (1.52 MPa), demonstrating the excellent heat-shielding performance and mechanical property of GO/carbon aerogel.