Elastic, strong polyimide/boron oxide composite aerogel with high thermal stability properties.

[Display omitted] • Proposed process and scheme for in situ thermal conversion of boron oxide-modified polyimide aerogel materials. • Prepared PI/B aerogels have low thermal conductivity (0.03891 W/(m·K)) and a temperature of 592.4 °C at 5 % weight loss. • PI/B aerogels maintain resilience while increasing mechanical strength. Thermal insulation and energy saving materials play an important role in promoting the rational use of energy and realizing sustainable development. In this paper, reticulated crosslinked polyimide aerogels were made by depositing boron oxide particles formed by the introduction of boric acid transformation on the aerogel structure through an in situ thermal transformation process. The results show that the boric acid was homogeneously mixed with the precursor polyamic acid solution, leading to the uniform dispersion of boron oxide within the aerogel framework. Compared with pure polyimide aerogels, the composite aerogels dopped with boron oxide show excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]