Abstract: Polymer aerogel is a new type of building insulation material with the advantages of light weight and good thermal insulation effect. However, the low mechanical strength and easy combustion limit its application and development. In this work, magnesium hydroxide (MH) was generated in-situ in the agar (AG)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix by magnesium oxide hydration, and sepiolite clay (SP) was introduced into the composite system to compound with MH. Finally, AG/PVA composite aerogels with different MH and SP loadings were prepared by a simple freeze-drying method, and their microstructure, mechanics and flame retardant properties were tested. The results of SEM and FTIR showed that cluster-like MH was successfully formed in-situ in the three-dimensional porous framework of AG/PVA. SP was also well dispersed in AG/PVA matrix; the introduction of MH/SP significantly improved the mechanical properties of the composite aerogel, and the compressive modulus of the A-P-M40-S20 sample was 2.13 MPa, an increase of 126.60% compared to that of the A-P aerogel. In the flame retardant test, the limiting oxygen index (LOI) of sample A-P was only 19.8%, while the LOI of sample A-P-M40-S20 reached 31.6%.
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