Preparation and properties of aminated MXene cross-linked polyimide aerogels

Polyimide (PI) aerogels with excellent properties have received a lot of attention, and the use of nanoparticles to improve the properties of aerogels has been investigated in the last few years. In this work, aminated functionalized MXene nanoparticles were successfully prepared as a cross-linking agent as well as an inorganic reinforcing phase, homogeneously embedded in PI aerogels, to synthesize a new PI composite aerogel. The results show that m-MXene can act as a cross-linking point to effectively maintain the network structure, which further improves the dimensional stability and compressive modulus. These PI composite aerogels have a high specific surface area, low density, low shrinkage and excellent mechanical properties.