The actual measurement shows that when the hot surface temperature of the 2-millimeter aerogel insulation sheet reaches 675℃, its back surface temperature is only 171℃, with a temperature difference of over 500℃, far exceeding the industry standard. In terms of cost control, the team replaced the expensive ethanol with water-based solvents and combined with the no-packaging process, reducing the cost by 10% - 15%. 
Facing the dual challenges of lightweighting and safety in new energy vehicles, how can we break through the limitations of traditional materials and develop new heat insulation materials that are lightweight, high-performance and low-cost? 
Recently, at the 2026 annual academic exchange event of the Chinese Young Science and Technology Workers Association and the "Young Scientists Cup" special competition in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, the team led by Associate Professor Wu Xiaodong from the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Nanjing University of Technology proposed the strategy of "creating ultra-thin high-insulation low-cost aerogel insulation sheets". With this strategy, the team achieved the second place in the national competition. 
Reinforce the properties of aerogel 
Aerogel is hailed as the "magical material that changes the world", as it has an air content of up to 99%, making it the solid material with the lowest known thermal conductivity. It is widely used in aerospace, petrochemicals, and thermal protection of new energy batteries. 
However, for a long time, traditional aerogel insulation sheets have faced three major industry challenges: Firstly, their thickness is generally above 1.5 millimeters, which occupies valuable space for the battery; secondly, the insulation temperature difference is less than 500 degrees Celsius, making it difficult to effectively prevent the spread of thermal runaway; thirdly, due to their reliance on expensive ethanol solvents and cumbersome packaging processes, their costs remain high. 
In response to these challenges, Wu Xiaodong and his team spent several years working hard and successfully overcame the three major problems of "ultra-thinness, high insulation, and low cost". 
Wu Xiaodong gave an analogy: "First, we use the grafting modification technology to prune the branches and leaves of the originally rigid silicon-based molecules. Through chemical means, we control the number of extensions of the molecules, transforming them from a rigid particle structure to a flexible 'ligament' structure." 
This technique not only resolves the common problem of powder shedding in aerogels, but also endows them with extremely strong flexibility, overcoming the problem of fragility of ultra-thin aerogels. Currently, the team has developed a pilot product with a thickness of 0.3 millimeters. 
In terms of high thermal insulation performance, the team has fixed the air holes at around 16 nanometers. "This is like confining air molecules in a mini cage," explained Wu Xiaodong. By restricting the free collisions of air molecules and combining the "baffle effect" of ceramic fibers to block heat radiation, the thermal conductivity of the material has been reduced to an extremely low level. The actual measurement shows that when the hot surface temperature of a 2-millimeter aerogel insulation sheet is 675°C, its back temperature is only 171°C, with a temperature difference of over 500°C, far exceeding the industry standard. 
In terms of cost control, the team adopted a combined approach of "water replacing ethanol" and "without packaging". By replacing the expensive ethanol with water-based solvents and combining it with the no-packaging process, the cost was reduced by 10% to 15%, making the large-scale civilian use of aerogels possible. 
Applicable to various scenarios 
This groundbreaking achievement stemmed from a "wonderful accident". The team's initial research objective was not battery insulation, but rather super transparent aerogel glass, aiming to achieve "light transmission without heat transmission" in buildings and other facilities in extremely cold northern regions. Although the prototype glass developed had an excellent light transmission rate, the yield dropped sharply during the large-scale production process, which limited its widespread application. 
"When testing the heat insulation performance, it was discovered that after making minor adjustments to the formula, this material performed exceptionally well in high-temperature protection," Wu Xiaodong recalled. This accidental discovery enabled the team to quickly identify its potential applications in the protection of thermal runaway in electric vehicles, and they then began to develop this ultra-thin, highly insulating and low-cost aerogel heat insulation sheet. 
Since 2013 when he started his master's degree studies, Wu Xiaodong has been deeply engaged in the field of aerogels. Starting from initially improving the thermal resistance of aluminum-silicon aerogels, then developing silicon nitride and silicon carbide aerogels, and finally to the current organic-inorganic hybrid aerogels, he has been constantly seeking the balance point between the "thermal resistance" and "flexibility" of aerogels. 
Over the past decade, he has experimented with various structures such as granular, ribbon-like, and fibrous ones, all in an effort to find the optimal solution for achieving the best performance of the aerogel material and realizing a significant improvement in its properties. 
"Our goal has never been to achieve application in a single scenario," Wu Xiaodong emphasized. "The core technology of this heat insulation sheet not only serves as a 'firewall' for the battery, but also plays a crucial role in insulating petrochemical pipelines, isolating battery clusters in energy storage stations, and even in the thermal insulation of building walls - basically, it can be adapted to any scenario that requires 'heat insulation + lightweight + low cost'." 
Although the pilot test was successful, there are still challenges on the path to industrialization. Wu Xiaodong admitted: "The large-scale replacement process of converting water-based gel to pure gel needs to be verified on the production line." The team is planning the first production line with an annual output of 10,000 cubic meters, and the equipment investment is expected to exceed 30 million yuan. 
In the future, the team of Wu Xiaodong will continue to follow the research strategy of "thermal resistance + mechanical properties", aiming at advanced fields such as aerospace and national defense, and moving towards the development of ultra-high temperature insulating aerogels capable of withstanding temperatures up to 2000℃.