Ceramic Aerogel Composite Metastructure with 3D Large Deformation for Thermal Insulation

Ceramic aerogels have become the most commonly used materials in high-temperature thermal insulation systems because of their thermal stability. However, the inherent brittleness limits their application under harsh thermomechanical conditions, such as morphing aircraft and inflatable decelerators. Herein, high-temperature resistant ceramic aerogel composite metastructures with 3D large deformation by introducing the concept of origami are designed and prepared, and their mechanical and thermal properties are investigated. The prepared ceramic aerogel composite exhibits 158% ultrahigh uniaxial tensile fracture strain and remains intact after 60 cycles to 80% tensile strain, with excellent fatigue resistance. They can also achieve an unprecedented in-plane biaxial strain of 455%, and the ratio of the out-of-plane bulging height to the typical feature size is 0.94. Owing to their low thermal conductivity (0.0376 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) and excellent thermal stability (1200 °C), the ceramic aerogel composites still maintain large-deformation performance in high-temperature environments. Thus, the large-deformation ceramic aerogel composite metastructures are suitable for complex and diverse deformation fields, addressing current limitations.