Aerogel

Advertisers love to use the term “space-age” when describing their products, as if the materials by which they are made have been absconded from the laboratories of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.  But if ever there was a material that could truly be described as “space-age”, it is aerogel.Aerogel is one of those materials about which you may have heard or may even be able to describe, but likely don’t know the practical applications to which aerogel is presently being applied.

Aerogel was invented in the 1930’s, first marketed in the 1940’s, and ultimately found practical uses in the 1980’s.  NASA was able to employ aerogels on Mars missions in the 1990’s that continue today.  Now, aerogel products are finally being developed for consumers to harness its amazing properties.

This fascinatingly light, translucent solid is actually created from a gel.  Using a special process that replaces the alcohol within the gel with carbon dioxide, the liquid in the gel is removed, leaving a solid structure.  The resulting light, airy substance is known as aerogel.  It is 99.8% air, while the remaining 0.2% is either a silicon or carbon based substance.  The lightest aerogel developed to date was created at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and weighed just .00011 pounds per cubic inch, thus making it the Guiness Book of World Records’ lightest solid in the world.  It weighs just three times as much as air.

NASA employed aerogels in the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, using it to insulate electronic components against the extreme temperatures found on the surface of the planet.  Aerogels were also used, because of the material’s highly pourous structure, on NASA’s Stardust mission to capture comet dust and return the samples back to Earth (although NASA literally “dropped the ball” on the return-to-Earth portion of this mission).

Aerogel is sometimes referred to as “frozen smoke” because of its hazy blue translucent appearance.  The first aerogels felt like a very lightweight, hard foam, but were incredibly fragile and could shatter like glass in a person’s hand if squeezed too hard.  Flexible aerogels have since been developed and are being marketed to consumers as an insulation product with far superior properties, such as 39 times more insulating capability, than those of existing fiberglass insulation materials.

Because of this, several companies now produce different forms of aerogel for use as insulation in walls and around pipes.  From a practicality standpoint, it is lightweight, easy to work with, non-hazardous, impervious to moisture and mold, fireproof, and dampens sound. Unfortunately, its biggest drawback is cost and availability.  But like many new technologies, these problems may ultimiately swing in the customer’s favor.