Nanoparticles can be considered as effective cross-linkers for PI aerogels. In order to investigate the effect of different nanoparticle-cross-linkers on the performances of aerogels, two types of silver nanoparticles, AgNPs (Ag nanoparticles) and AgNShs (Ag nanosheets) were modified via PATP (p-aminothiophenol) as cross-linkers and then added into PAA (polyamic acid) solution derived from BPDA (3, 3’, 4, 4’-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride) and ODA (4, 4’-diaminodiphenyl ether) to form wet gel. The wet gel was processed with supercritical CO₂ drying to fabricate cross-linked polyimide aerogels. Raman, XPS and TG-IR were carried out to prove successful modification of silver nanoparticles. The as-prepared aerogels had densities around 0.2 g cm^-3_. Nitrogen adsorption desorption tests and mechanical tests were conducted to characterize the performance of aerogels at room temperature and high temperature (above 150 °C). The results showed that comparing to pure PI aerogels, aerogels cross-linked with silver nanoparticles had higher compressive strength and Young’s modulus, which comes to 3.4 MPa and 52.7 MPa, respectively. Besides, silver nanoparticles cross-linked aerogels also had better high temperature stability in both size and microstructure comparing to pure PI aerogels. With remarkable mechanical properties and high temperature microstructure stabilities, these aerogels show potential in many areas of application.

纳米颗粒可以被认为是PI气凝胶的有效交联剂。为了研究不同的纳米颗粒交联剂对气凝胶性能的影响，两种银纳米颗粒，AgNPs（Ag纳米颗粒）和AgNShs（Ag纳米片）通过PATP（对氨基硫酚）作为交联剂进行了改性。然后将其加入衍生自BPDA（3、3'，4、4'-联苯基四羧酸二酐）和ODA（4,4'-二氨基二苯醚）的PAA（聚酰胺酸）溶液中，形成湿凝胶。用超临界CO ₂干燥处理湿凝胶，以制备交联的聚酰亚胺气凝胶。进行拉曼，XPS和TG-IR证明银纳米粒子的成功改性。所制备的气凝胶的密度约为0.2 g cm ^-3 _。进行了氮气吸附解吸测试和机械测试，以表征气凝胶在室温和高温（高于150°C）下的性能。结果表明，与纯PI气凝胶相比，与银纳米颗粒交联的气凝胶具有更高的抗压强度和杨氏模量，分别达到3.4 MPa和52.7 MPa。此外，与纯PI气凝胶相比，银纳米颗粒交联气凝胶在尺寸和微观结构上也具有更好的高温稳定性。这些气凝胶具有卓越的机械性能和高温微结构稳定性，在许多应用领域中显示出潜力。