Nanocomposite Automation Process 29

pores of the gel. Evaporation causes severe damage to the gel and will lead
to poor-quality aerogels.

1.4.3 Concept of Thermal Conductivity

The coefficient of thermal conductivity of the silica/carbon aerogels is calcu-
lated as:
α = ρβC (1.47)
where
ρ = Density of silica/carbon aerogels (kg/m3)
β = Coefficient of thermal diffusivity of silica/carbon aerogels (m2/s)
C = Specific heat capacity; J/kg K. 1 J/s = 1 W, so α = w/mK

The thermal diffusivity directly depends on the effect of porosity [27,28].

1 P
β′  β (1.48)
1 P

where β′ is the coefficient of thermal diffusivity with porosity aerogels, β is

the coefficient of thermal diffusivity without porosity, and P is the porosity
of aerogels.
Thermal shock requires a cycle from increasing the temperature to 1000 K
and reducing to absolute zero (273.15 K). C = K(1000 grad) – 273.15 grad =
726.85 grad.
The melting temperature of aerogels is 1450 K, C = K(1450 grad) – 273.15
grad = 1176.85 grad.

1.4.3.1 Design a Spraying Process with the Low-Thermal

Conductivity Ceramic/Carbon Spray Aerogels
Design of low-thermal conductivity ceramic/carbon spray aerogels is shown
in Figure 1.14, and the thermal insulator is shown in Figure 1.15.
TBCs have thin ceramic/carbon layers, generally applied by plasma spray-
ing or by physical vapor deposition, and are used to insulate air-cooled
metallic components from hot gases in gas turbine and other heat engines
[29]. The ceramic layer consists of 95.4 at.% zirconia ZrO2 and 4.6 at.% yttria
Y2O3. However, these coatings have porous and microcracked structures.
Recently, scandia was identified as a stabilizer that could be used in addi-
tion to yttria [30]. A composition of 3 mol % scandia and 2.5 mol % yttria
may confer the desired phase stability at 1400ºC. Our cost-effective process is
very simple: After spraying adhesive layers of liquid poly(dimethylsiloxane)
polymer, we spray silica/carbon liquid. Temporary pivots are located on the
nest of pivot ring. We use wax for easy separation of the pivots from the
aerogel. After spraying aerogel layers and solidifying them, the pivots will