Thermally insulating polymer foam/aerogel composite articles

Abstract

Prepare an article of manufacture having an extruded thermoplastic polymer foam defining at least one cavity, the cavity containing aerogel material by providing a polymer foam defining a cavity and placing the aerogel material into the cavity.

1 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 a. an extruded thermoplastic polymer foam that has a thermoplastic polymer matrix defining a multitude of cells, the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam defining at least one cavity; and   b. aerogel material residing within at least one cavity of the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam.   
     
     
         2 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam is free of halogenated blowing agents and has a thermal conductivity of 35 milliWatts per meter per Kelvin or less. 
     
     
         3 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam defines multiple distinct cavities and residing within more than one distinct cavity are aerogel materials. 
     
     
         4 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the aerogel material is entirely enclosed within extruded thermoplastic polymer foam. 
     
     
         5 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein at least one cavity of the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam includes both aerogel and an additional insulating material. 
     
     
         6 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam has opposing first and second surfaces with at least one cavity defined in a first surface and wherein the portion of extruded thermoplastic polymer foam between the cavity and the second surface has a higher density than the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam on average. 
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the aerogel is enclosed in a metal or polymer enclosure and the combination of the enclosure and aerogel reside in a cavity. 
     
     
         8 . A process for manufacturing the article of  claim 1 , the process comprising the following steps: (a) providing an extruded thermoplastic polymer foam that defines at least one cavity; (b) providing aerogel material; and (c) inserting the aerogel material into a cavity defined by the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 8 , wherein step (a) includes extruding the polymer foam in an absence of halogenated blowing agent. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 8 , wherein the polymer foam defines multiple distinct cavities and step (b) includes providing multiple aerogel materials and step (c) includes inserting aerogel materials into multiple distinct cavities of the polymer foam. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 8 , wherein step (a) include cold forming at least one cavity into the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 8 , further including step (d) of enclosing the aerogel material within the cavity with extruded thermoplastic polymer foam. 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 8 , including adding to at least one cavity of the extruded thermoplastic polymer foam both aerogel material and an additional insulating material. 
     
     
         14 . A process for using the article of  claim 1  comprising the steps: (a) providing an article of  claim 1 ; and (b) positioning the article of  claim 1  as a barrier between two different areas.