Aerogels a short history

Aerogel was first created by Steven Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid inside a jam (jelly) jar with gas without causing shrinkage. The first results were silica gels. Aerogel can be made of many different materials; Kistler's work involved aerogels based on silica, alumina, chromia, and tin oxide. Carbon aerogels were first developed in the early 1990s.