Nanoclay-based PVA aerogels have been synthesized at pilot-plant scale, using an environmentally friendly freeze-drying method. In the present work, the influence of different types of nanoclays on the physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the resulted PVA aerogels were evaluated. In addition, the effect of nanoclay/PVA mass ratio was studied. Nanoclay incorporation into the polymeric matrix resulted in compact structures with small pore size distribution. Moreover, nanoclay addition (up to 3 wt %) allowed to improve the mechanical properties of the obtained aerogels. Nanoclay-based PVA aerogels showed interesting properties, such as high lightness, good mechanical properties, low thermal conductivity, and fire resistance.

中文翻译：

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基于纳米粘土的PVA气凝胶：合成与表征

基于纳米粘土的PVA气凝胶已使用环境友好的冷冻干燥方法在中试规模上进行了合成。在本工作中，评估了不同类型的纳米粘土对所得PVA气凝胶的物理，机械和热性能的影响。另外，研究了纳米粘土/ PVA质量比的影响。将纳米粘土掺入到聚合物基质中导致具有小的孔径分布的致密结构。此外，纳米粘土的添加（至多3重量％）允许改善所获得的气凝胶的机械性能。基于纳米粘土的PVA气凝胶表现出令人感兴趣的特性，例如高亮度，良好的机械性能，低导热性和耐火性。