Aerogel

[kach22i]

Find me a boating use for this material.

http://www.unitednuclear.com/aerogel.htm

Aerogel is made from Silicon Dioxide, the same material as ordinary Glass,
only 1,000 times less dense.

Aerogel (also called 'frozen smoke' because of its hazy blue appearance), is a truly remarkable material.
It is the lightest and lowest-density solid known to exist, and holds an unbelievable 15 entries in the Guinness Book of World Records, including best insulator and lowest density solid.
Aerogel is composed of 99.8% air and is chemically similar to ordinary glass.

Being the world's lightest known solid, it weighs only three times that of air.

I posted this on another forum.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/~td...ead.php?t=1646

Kruppy said:
Aerogel has been around for quite a while. I've been doing a bit of research on it for my work. It was used on the NASA Stardust program.

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/aerogel.html

You'll find that beyond its aerospace applications it's used for heat shielding for engine compartments, shoe inserts for insulating the foot from the sole of the shoe (artic conditions), and also insulation in jackets.

The stuff aint cheap.......

If anyone is interested this is a bit of history on the Samuel Kistler the inventor of Aerogel in the 30's

http://eetd.lbl.gov/ECS/aerogels/kistler/index.htm

A 3,000°F blowtorch under a thin slice of Aerogel
has no effect on the crayons on top.

[kach22i]

http://www.aerogel.com/

Also known as Pyrogel.

Our Pyrogel® and Spaceloft™ materials were born in the mid to late 1990’s when development was initiated for NASA. In the cold dark vacuum of space, maintenance of body temperature is critical, yet spacesuits must be flexible and light to allow for freedom of movement. NASA found our aerogels to be a perfect fit, and so will you.

Unlike all other insulations for footwear and apparel applications that rely on decades old textile, foam or fiber technology, the insulating power of our materials is derived from space age aerogel technology. This technology yields materials with a sub nanoporous lattice structure that has a very high surface area and billions of irregularly shaped pores per unit of material. As such, as noted in the chart above, aerogels have anywhere from two to six times more insulating power than other commonly used materials.

Thanks for posting this! I haven't read everything yet but apparently it absorbs water/moisture?

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Lorsail

Thanks for posting this! I haven't read everything yet but apparently it absorbs water/moisture?

I don't know, would depend if it's open cell or closed cell - right?

I'm sure it's in that last link if you take the time to look it up. It's a good question because most insulators don't work well when wet.

On http://www.aerogel.com you can read it likes to absorb water so much it will leave a "dry spot" on you skin after handling it.
No fear, they claim the dry spot will disappear after a while.

Maritime use only recommended if sure water will never enter r boat.

Yeah-they say it's a dessicant. I talked to Ron Reichard of Structural Composites about it and it is "open cell" but very ,very small cells.No good around moisture/water as in a core but perhaps in a sealed environment for insulation.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Lorsail

it's a dessicant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessicant

Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. It is an extreme form of dehydration (though dessication is not a medical condition).

A desiccant is a substance that adsorbs water. It is most commonly used to remove humidity that would normally degrade or even destroy products sensitive to moisture. Silica gel, Calcium sulfate, montmorillonite clay, and molecular sieves are commonly used as desiccants.

I would not want Aerogell dust in my lungs. I'm not sure how gel-like Aerogel really is. Can it become airborn like dust when shaping?

[Wellydeckhand]

good future stuff for building skyscaper or Nirvana....... only if the price can be cheap....... seen it in TV only

[Kruse]

Fantastic material...
Best insulation properties by far.
Spongy by feel, to a certain point,
you can compress it slightly between your fingers, press more than this and the material breaks to dust. Disintegrates.
Would probably be safe from vibration in use as insulation.
Will soak up moisture so must be "bagged"
Has some use as impact absorbsion (used in space to capture partickles)

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Kruse

so must be "bagged"

When you say "bagged" , do you mean laminated sealed in a plastic enclosu..................ahhhhh my cat just jumped on my leg.

I was thinking that any kind of liquid sealer would be sucked up and absorbed - and NOT stay on the surface. Bagging it seems to be the answer I was wondering about.

If someone tried to vacuum bag and seal it, I'd imagine it would compress as the air was removed from it's cellular structure.

The same goes for temperture extreems when the air in the Aerogel expands and contracts deforming the adjacent surfaces. This would be similar to fiberglassed over extruded polystyreen sitting in the sun - could be puckering?

I wonder if ther is any "off-gassing" of the Aerogel.

Looks like I'll have to go back to their homepage and do some more reading.

[Thunderhead19]

It doesn't look like aerogel is fryable (become and airbourne particulate). I hear alot about how people don't like fiberglass because it never decomposes and blah blah blah..... A day at the beach can fill your lungs with glass particulate too, what's the problem??

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Thunderhead19

It doesn't look like aerogel is fryable (become and airbourne particulate). I hear alot about how people don't like fiberglass because it never decomposes and blah blah blah..... A day at the beach can fill your lungs with glass particulate too, what's the problem??

Funny thing PBS radio in the states did a special on this topic yesterday. Silica dust in the 1930's-50's and abestos dust in the 1950's-70's were major industry/medical concerns and scares.

[JC47]

This material is used by Glacier Bay to create panels for ice box's.

JC47