In this blog post, we will explore how aerogel, which is as light as air and has excellent thermal insulation properties, is bringing innovation to science and technology and our daily lives.
Long ago, a research team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich succeeded in creating gold that floats on water. They did this without mixing any other substances besides 20-carat gold. How can pure gold float on water? The answer can be found in our daily lives. When you put soap in water, it sinks. However, the soap bubbles left over after washing your face do not sink in water.
Soap bubbles float because they contain more air than soap. The ETH Zurich research team utilized this principle to create a foam composed of 98% air and 2% gold. Such a solid material, where most of the volume is occupied by air, is called an aerogel. The first aerogel was created in 1931 by Steven Kistler.
He succeeded in creating the first aerogel by converting the liquid contained in a silica gel into a gas. This is silica gel. Aerogel can be made not only from silica but also from various other materials. At the time, aerogel was not commercialized due to the high costs and time required for production. However, as technology advanced, it became possible to create aerogel using various materials, leading to its widespread use in various industries.
Today, it plays an important role in fields such as architecture, aerospace, and electronics. Imagine the interior of an aerogel. There are countless holes formed by a framework thinner than a thread, filled with air. It has a structure similar to that of a bone with osteoporosis. What would happen if you applied an impact to an aerogel? It would shatter into pieces. Aerogel has the disadvantage of being fragile. Therefore, it requires careful handling, and research is underway to compensate for this weakness through various reinforcement technologies. For example, attempts are being made to increase its durability by reinforcing aerogel with carbon or nanomaterials so that it can withstand impact. You may wonder where such fragile aerogel can be used.
However, Aerogel’s unique properties make it highly useful in both daily life and industry. For example, Aerogel is extremely lightweight yet offers excellent soundproofing and insulation properties, making it a promising innovative material in various fields. Just as placing a sponge over your mouth significantly reduces the volume of sound, Aerogel can also serve as an excellent soundproofing material. In the field of architecture, research is actively underway to apply this soundproofing performance to buildings and vehicles with high noise levels.
In addition, aerogel has very low thermal conductivity, making it an excellent insulator. Unlike styrofoam and fiberglass, which are commonly used as insulation materials, aerogel can withstand temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius. This makes it particularly useful in industrial sites that require insulation performance in high-temperature environments and for fire prevention. Aerogel, which maintains its performance even at high temperatures, is gradually expanding its applications in various fields such as home appliances, clothing, and sports equipment. Furthermore, in the aerospace industry, Aerogel is used on the exterior of spacecraft to withstand extreme temperature changes.
Another characteristic of aerogel, its “porous structure,” plays an important role in scientific research and environmental protection. A notable example of aerogel’s potential is the 1999 launch of the Stardust spacecraft, which collected cosmic dust from a comet. During the dust collection process, aerogel’s porous structure was instrumental in collecting the dust without damage.
Thanks to these characteristics of aerogel, it is currently used as an important tool in the scientific community for capturing and analyzing fine particles and harmful substances. Recently, methods for producing aerogel more economically have been developed. In the past, manufacturing costs were too high for widespread use, but now, research institutions such as the National University of Singapore have successfully produced aerogel using paper, significantly improving cost reduction and production efficiency. As aerogel becomes more widely commercialized, it is expected to contribute to energy savings and environmental protection. In particular, aerogel will play a crucial role in improving the insulation performance of buildings and saving energy in modern society, where energy efficiency is a top priority. The future of aerogel is bright. While it has primarily been used in aerospace and high-tech industries so far, aerogel is likely to find more applications in our daily lives in the coming years.
Its application in home insulation materials, soundproofing materials, or heat-blocking devices for electronic products will continue to grow. Aerogel, which is as light as air and highly versatile, will establish itself as a new material capable of bringing significant changes even in fields we have not yet imagined.
