Unusual Flexibility of Transparent Poly(methylsilsesquioxane) Aerogels by Surfactant-Induced Mesoscopic Fiber Assembly

We report a new synthetic strategy to realize highly transparent aerogels with outstanding bending flexibility. Taking poly(methylsilsesquioxane) (PMSQ) aerogels as an example, surfactant-induced fiber-like mesoscopic assembly of PMSQ and poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO, so-called Pluronics) has been demonstrated. The obtained PMSQ aerogels possessed a characteristic branched fibrous structure in the mesoscale. With employing various kinds of PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO as the structure determining agent, optimization of the mesoscale structure of PMSQ gels has realized highly transparent aerogels with outstanding bendability compared to those reported in previous works. This approach provides a novel way to thermally superinsulating flexible devices with glasslike transparency.