The ambition of human beings to create a comfortable environment for work and life in a sustainable way has triggered a great need for advanced thermal insulation materials in past decades. Aerogels and foams present great prospects as thermal insulators owing to their low density, good thermal insulation, mechanical robustness, and even high fire resistance. These merits make them suitable for many real‐world applications, such as energy‐saving building materials, thermally protective materials in aircrafts and battery, and warming fabrics. Despite great advances, to date there remains a lack of a comprehensive yet critical review on the thermal insulation materials. Herein, recent progresses in fire‐safe thermal‐insulating aerogels and foams are summarized, and pros/cons of three major categories of aerogels/foams (inorganic, organic and their hybrids) are discussed. Finally, key challenges associated with existing aerogels are discussed and some future opportunities are proposed. This review is expected to expedite the development of advanced aerogels and foams as fire‐safe thermally insulating materials, and to help create a sustainable, safe, and energy‐efficient society.

中文翻译：

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用于隔热的防火气凝胶和泡沫：从材料到特性


在过去的几十年里，人类以可持续的方式为工作和生活创造舒适环境的雄心引发了对先进隔热材料的巨大需求。气凝胶和泡沫由于其低密度、良好的隔热性、机械坚固性甚至高耐火性而作为隔热材料具有很大的前景。这些优点使它们适用于许多实际应用，例如节能建筑材料、飞机和电池中的热保护材料以及保暖织物。尽管取得了巨大进步，但迄今为止，仍然缺乏对隔热材料的全面而批判性的审查。本文总结了防火隔热气凝胶和泡沫的最新进展，并讨论了三大类气凝胶/泡沫（无机、有机及其杂化物）的优缺点。最后，讨论了与现有气凝胶相关的主要挑战，并提出了一些未来的机会。本综述有望加快作为防火隔热材料的高级气凝胶和泡沫的开发，并帮助创建一个可持续、安全和节能的社会。