Preparation and characterization of novel lightweight Y2Si2O7 fibrous porous ceramics for high temperature thermal insulation

Fibrous porous ceramics play a vital role in the field of thermal protection systems. In this work, novel lightweight Y 2 Si 2 O 7 fibrous porous ceramics were successfully prepared based on Y 2 Si 2 O 7 fibrous membranes by molding method. The effects of mechanical dispersion speed and heat treatment temperature on the properties of Y 2 Si 2 O 7 fibrous porous ceramics were characterized. The results revealed that benefiting from the appropriate fiber length, the ceramics had a better performance at a mechanical dispersion speed of 4000 revolutions per minute. The density, shrinkage, and compressive strength of the ceramics increased, but the porosity decreased slightly with the increasing heat treatment temperature. The prepared Y 2 Si 2 O 7 fibrous porous ceramics exhibited favorable properties like low density (0.37 g/cm 3 ), high porosity (90.56%), good high-temperature resistance (∼1350 °C), and low thermal conductivity (∼0.12 W m −1  K −1 at 27 °C, ∼0.566 W m −1  K −1 at 1000 °C). These properties indicate that Y 2 Si 2 O 7 fibrous porous ceramics could be a promising candidate as thermal insulation materials in high-temperature environments.