Frozen Smoke
The Times of London has a report on a remarkable "new" substance that is now being developed into a myriad of useful products. Invented in 1931, Aerogel has only recently been refined enough to be anything more than a curiosity. But its remarkable characteristics are leading to some interesting applications.
A MIRACLE material for the 21st century could protect your home against bomb blasts, mop up oil spillages and even help man to fly to Mars.
Aerogel, one of the world’s lightest solids, can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a blowtorch at more than 1,300C.
Scientists are working to discover new applications for the substance, ranging from the next generation of tennis rackets to super-insulated space suits for a manned mission to Mars.
It is expected to rank alongside wonder products from previous generations such as Bakelite in the 1930s, carbon fibre in the 1980s and silicone in the 1990s. Mercouri Kanatzidis, a chemistry professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said: “It is an amazing material. It has the lowest density of any product known to man, yet at the same time it can do so much. I can see aerogel being used for everything from filtering polluted water to insulating against extreme temperatures and even for jewellery.”
Aerogel is nicknamed “frozen smoke” and is made by extracting water from a silica gel, then replacing it with gas such as carbon dioxide. The result is a substance that is capable of insulating against extreme temperatures and of absorbing pollutants such as crude oil.
Interesting stuff, indeed. A line of jackets made with the stuff had to be withdrawn from the market. People complained that they were too hot.
UPDATE: Good heavens, this is why they call the material "frozen smoke". Very cool looking substance! There are also several companies working on commercializing the product. Aspen Aerogels is one of them. This company sells Aerogel samples to the public but is currently out of stock. (Dang it!)
By feeblemind, Monday, 20 August , 2007 @ 7:53 am
I wondered if you would post on this. It sounds like really cool stuff. I am looking forward to seeing what they will make with it. Hard for me to imagine a jacket being too hot. I have never had a pair of mittens or gloves that were “too hot”. Wonder if this will work in those? One wonders if it could be used to fireproof buildings as well?