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2011-07-28T06:18:00.001-07:00

Aerogel - lightest, most expensive stuff in the World

2007-08-01T23:11:00.001-07:00

Lab advances the art and science of aerogels

2007-08-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Los Alamos National Laboratory Newsletter Week of Sept. 13, 2004 Vol. 5, No. 19

Lab advances the art and science of aerogels

by Todd Hanson

Scientists working at the Laboratory have recently
demonstrated a novel method for chemically modifying
and enhancing silica-based aerogels without
sacrificing the aerogels’ unique properties. Aerogels are
low-density, transparent materials used in a wide range of
applications, including thermal insulation, porous separation
media, inertial confinement fusion experiments and
cometary dust capture agents.
Made of silica, one of Earth’s most abundant materials,
aerogels are as much as 99 percent air, giving them not
only the highest thermal insulation value and highest surface
area, but also the lowest acoustic conductivity and
density of all known solid materials. The aerogels’
extraordinary thermal insulation ability makes them
capable of withstanding temperatures in excess of a
thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Because they are composed
mostly of air, there is little solid content
available for maintaining the structural integrity of
the aerogel, making them brittle.
In research reported at the 228th national meeting
of the American Chemical Society, Laboratory scientist
Kimberly DeFriend of Polymers and Coatings (MST-7)
described a process for modifying silica aerogels with silicon
and transition metal compounds using chemical vapor
techniques to create a silicon multilayer or a mixed-metal
oxide that enhance the current physical properties of aerogels
for more demanding applications. With the addition of a
silicon monolayer, an aerogel’s strength can be
increased four-fold.
Aerogels are synthesized at Los Alamos using solgel
processing and super-critically dried with either
carbon dioxide or a solvent. This sol-gel processing
method allows the gel to be formed in the shape of
its mold, making it possible to create a variety of
shapes. The introduction of silicon multilayers or
transition metal compounds allows the aerogels to
retain their most valuable porosity and density
characteristics while enhancing weaker characteristics
like mechanical strength.
Los Alamos recently has begun to expand and
advance its ability to synthesize and manufacture the
aerogels. This improved capability will allow
Laboratory scientists to not only more closely study
and improve on the quality of the aerogels, but also
help to better meet the Laboratory’s inertial confinement
fusion and high-energy-density physics aerogel
target needs.
In addition to DeFriend, the Los Alamos aerogel team includes Douglas Loy, Arthur Nobile Jr., Kenneth Salazar, James Small, Jonathan Stoddard and
Kennard Wilson Jr., all of MST-7.

Aerogels a short history

2007-07-23T11:55:00.001-07:00

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.

Just What is Aerogel

2007-07-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Well up until a couple of days ago I had never heard of Aerogel.
I came across it on a tech blog site with a link to a video on UTUBE. I watched the video and became fascinated.
Below is what Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia had initially to say:

Aerogel is a low-density solid-state material derived from gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with gas. The result is an extremely low density solid with several remarkable properties, most notably its effectiveness as an insulator. It is nicknamed frozen smoke, solid smoke or blue smoke due to its semi-transparent nature and the way light scatters in the material; however, it feels like expanded polystyrene to the touch.

AEROGEL

hello

Aerogel - lightest, most expensive stuff in the World

Lab advances the art and science of aerogels

Aerogels a short history

Just What is Aerogel