Tuning thermal stability and fire hazards of hydrophobic silica aerogels via doping reduced graphene oxide

This study synthesizes composites of reduced graphene oxide doped silica aerogel (SA/rGO) and assesses their thermal safety. The introduction of rGO minimally affected SA polymerization, as confirmed by FTIR and XRD. Even with rGO (0.05-0.45 %), SA/rGO maintains low density (∼ 0.10 g/cm³), low thermal conductivity (∼ 23 mW/m/K), and large surface area (863.4–913.1 m²/g). TG-DSC results show enhanced thermal stability in SA/rGO, with onset and peak decomposition temperatures rising by 118 °C and 94 °C, respectively. Additionally, gross calorific values and total heat release rates decrease by 12.4 % and 25.4 %. Thus, this work establishes that the incorporation of rGO enhances thermal stability and flame resistance of hydrophobic SAs without impairing their properties, which provides a new insight for developing thermally safer hydrophobic SA materials.