Preparation of silk-like zirconia and investigation of its heat-insulating properties

Abstract

Abstract Many life forms possess the aesthetic and unique micromorphologies after long-term evolution and inspire researchers to fabricate different types of microstructures. In this study, silk was utilized as a template to produce silk-like zirconia fibers with excellent heat-insulating properties. We soaked silk in a solution containing Zr4+ and thereafter sintered the dried silk in air at temperatures below 1000 °C to obtain the zirconia fibers. The results showed that these zirconia fibers not only maintained the structures of silk but also exhibited hollowness, which rendered them with lower thermal conductivities and higher heat-insulating properties than conventional zirconia fibers.