Aerogels, Solids Lighter then Air.

John Calvin Martinez

February 25th 2009





MEEN 3344 001
Dr. Larry Peel
What are Aerogels?
Aerogels were first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in
1951.
Strengths

Aerogels are solid, but can be less dense then air.
Despite their sparse molecular structure aerogels are
strong. Aerogels are excellent insulators.

Weaknesses

Aerogels are traditionally expensive and difficult to
manufacture, and they are difficult to handle.
Practical Applications
Aerogels have numerous applications. NASA used an aerogel
to capture space dust, with the Stardust spacecraft. NASA also
used an aerogel to insulate the Mars Rover. The US Navy is
investigating the use of aerogels to provide more insulation for
divers. And aerogels are also being used in detectors for
particle physics.
Aerogel blocks on
NASA's stardust
detector
Aerogel as insulation
2 grams of aerogel
supporting 2.4 Kg brick
Manufacturing
Aerogels a formed by a process known as supercritical
drying, in which the liquid from the gel base is removed
and replaced by a gas, leaving a solid structure.

Aspen Aerogels is a leading producer of aerogels,
having streamlined to production process to reduce the
cost of production.
References
Wikipedia Aerogels 18th February 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel>
NASA Science and Technical Information, Spinoff2001
<http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff2001/ch5.html>
Aspen Aerogels
<http://www.aerogel.com/>
All pictures are from the Aerogel photo gallery
<http://www.aerogem.com/aerogel-photo-gallery.html>