A curable
coating composition for forming a thermal insulating layer, the composition comprising: (a)
highly porous particles of a material obtained by
drying a wet
sol-gel, the particles having a
porosity of at least 80% and a particle size in the range from 5 mum to 4.0 mm; and (b) a film forming resin
system comprising a film forming
polymer, wherein the particles (a) are dispersed in the resin
system (b), and the resin
system (b) contains at least one stabilizer having an average molecular weight in the range from about 1,000 to about 4,000, said stabilizer being at least one member selected from the group consisting of
ethylene oxide-
propylene oxide block copolymers, poly C2 - C3 alkoxylated C12 - C18 saturated or unsaturated fatty alcohols, poly C2 - C3 alkoxylated hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated castor oils, poly C2 - C3 alkoxylated hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated soybean oils,
polydimethyl siloxane C2 - C3 alkoxylates, and
sorbitan esters of C12 - C18 saturated or unsaturated fatty acids, the amount of the particles (a) is in the range from 2 to 6% by weight, based on the weight of the composition, and the amount of the stabilizer is in the range from about 50 % to about 90% by weight, based on the weight of the
highly porous particles. The composition has high storage stability and forms a
coating having excellent insulation value.