Thermal conductivity of geomaterial foams based on silica fume

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 47; no. 1; pp. 391 - 396
• Main Authors: Bourret, J., Prud’homme, E., Rossignol, S., Smith, D. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Additives; Aluminum compounds; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical composition; Chemical Sciences; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Clay; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Diatomaceous earth; Equilibrium flow; Foams; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Heat transmission; Heat treatment; Kaolin; Material chemistry; Materials Science; Materials selection; Polymer Sciences; Porosity; Porous materials; Raw materials; Reference materials; Silica; Silica fume; Silicon dioxide; Sodium hydroxide; Sodium silicates; Solid Mechanics; Steady state; Thermal conductivity; Diatomite; Foam; Thermal Conductivity; Silica Fume; Kaolin; Sodium silicate; Sodium hydroxides; Steady-state heat flow; Reference material; Laser flash techniques; Geomaterials; Chemical compositions; Thermal conductivity measurements
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-011-5810-3

Porous materials have been prepared from a solution containing sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide with the addition of silica fume. Kaolin and diatomite were also tested as additives to the initial formulation. This method yields consolidated geomaterial foams without requiring thermal treatment above
. The influence of chemical composition on the thermal conductivity was studied. The choice of raw materials was found to play an important role. The accuracy of thermal conductivity measurements was evaluated by comparing the steady state heat flow method with the laser flash technique for five different reference materials giving values within 6%. Using the steady state heat flow method, a value of
was then obtained for consolidated foams, made with kaolin as the precursor, containing approximately 70% of porosity.