TiO₂/K₂Ti₆O₁₃ Binary Whiskers Modified Mullite Fiber-Based Materials with Enhanced Thermal Insulation Property

Mullite fiber materials are widely used in high-temperature thermal insulation applications, especially in aerospace thermal protection systems, due to their excellent thermal stability and low thermal conductivity. However, the material exhibits poor resistance to infrared radiative heat transfer at elevated temperatures. Accordingly, a dual-opacifier system composed of TiO₂ and K₂Ti₆O₁₃ binary whiskers was proposed as an effective strategy for enhancing thermal insulation performance. MF/TiO_2w and MF/TiO_2w/K₂Ti₆O_13w were fabricated in this study using a sol-gel method combined with in situ whisker growth. The results show that upright and interlaced K₂Ti₆O₁₃ and TiO₂ whiskers were uniformly grown on the fiber surface, contributing to a high infrared reflectance of 97.7% in the wavelength range of 2.5-10 μm. Under a front-side temperature of 1000 °C, the modified mullite fiber-based material exhibits a backside temperature of 177.8 °C, corresponding to a reduction of 71.8 °C compared with the original sample (249.6 °C), demonstrating significantly enhanced thermal insulation performance. In addition, the composite exhibits an ultralow density of less than 0.20 g/cm³. The as-prepared thermal insulation material shows a high rebound rate of 76.5% at a strain of 30%, indicating good elasticity. The results demonstrate that the developed composite exhibits excellent infrared shielding and structural stability, confirming that the binary whisker strategy effectively enhances the thermal insulation performance of the mullite fiber-based materials, highlighting its potential for high-temperature aerospace applications.