Dome-celled aerogels with ultrahigh-temperature superelasticity over 2273 K

Abstract

Aerogels are known for their high porosity and very low density and can be made from a range of materials, but are limited by structural instability under extreme thermomechanical conditions. We report on 194 types of dome-celled ultralight aerogels that maintain superior elasticity spanning from 4.2 kelvin (K) to 2273 K, realized by a two-dimensional channel–confined chemistry method. Such aerogels exhibit superelasticity under 99% strain for 20,000 cycles and thermal shock resistance at 2273 K over 100 cycles. The high-entropy carbide aerogel achieves a thermal conductivity of 53.4 mW·m⁻¹·K⁻¹ at 1273 K and 171.1 mW·m⁻¹·K⁻¹ at 2273 K. The combination of temperature-invariant elasticity and chemical diversity makes such aerogels highly promising for extreme thermomechanics, from heat-insulated industries to deep space exploration.