Superhydrophobic fluorine-rich conjugated microporous polymers monolithic nanofoam with excellent heat insulation property

Abstract The exploitation of multifunctional materials with both low thermal conductivity and high flame retardant property is of great importance for construction of modern energy-effective buildings. Here, we report the design and synthesis of fluorine-rich conjugated microporous polymers (FCMPs) monolithic nanofoam through a Sonogashira–Hagihara coupling reaction. The FCMPs monolithic nanofoam exhibits a high specific surface area of up to 1194 m 2  g −1 and interestingly superhydrophobic wettability with a water contact angle of 160°. The FCMPs monolithic nanofoam possesses a low thermal conductivity of 0.021 W m −1  K −1 , which can compete with the most of low thermal conductivity materials such as silicon aerogel (0.02 W m −1  K −1 ), indicating excellent thermal insulation capability. Microcalorimetry (MCC) test results show that the FCMPs monolithic nanofoam possesses excellent flame retardant performance with a low peak heat release rate (pHRR) value of 10.4–11.2 W g −1 , which is nearly one order magnitude lower than that of the flame retardant materials reported so far. Compared with those brittle inorganic thermal insulation materials as well as the CMPs usually are formed as unprocessable powder, the elastomeric FCMPs monolithic nanofoam is flexible and mechanical robust, which in turn could be engineered as different shapes for practical applications. Taking these advantages, the FCMPs monolithic nanofoam may have great potentials as anti-proofing, novel heat insulation materials with better flame retardant properties for modern building construction or other energy-efficient coatings.