Synthetically producing amorphous silica gel and then infusing it into a fabric creates what many buyers know as aerogel insulation according to one distributor’s website. Amorphous silica appears on state hazardous substance lists for California and New Jersey. According to the website TeachEngineering,org, Samuel Stephens Kistler invented aerogel in . Not unlike Kistler’s approach to inventing aerogel, some manufacturers today create aerogels by putting together a polymer and solvent, which forms a gel; they then remove the liquid and replace it with air. In some cases, manufacturers use silica, or silicon dioxide, with a solvent to make the gel, extract the fluid and insert carbon dioxide. Some aerogel manufacturers include titanium dioxide TiO2 as an ingredient, which the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies as a Group 2B carcinogen, possibly carcinogenic if inhaled. A article from the Archives of Toxicology, titled “Health hazards due to the inhalation of amorphous silica,” notes “Inflammatory responses and emphysema have been described in a number of animal studies, especially in rats and monkeys.”
Some manufacturers of aerogels advocate for their use because they prevent heat transfer and are lightweight. For example, according to ExtremeTech, graphene aerogel is remarkably light, weighing about 160 grams per cubic meter.
According to InspectAPedia.com, the R-Value of aerogel is 10.3 per inch versus rigid fiberglass, which has an R-Value of 4 per inch. The R-Value, or resistance value, of insulation measures to what degree insulation resists the flow of heat through an insulation material. As the R-Value climbs from 0 it signifies that the insulation material is doing a better job of preventing heat transfer, and consequently it’s a more effective barrier.
AEROGEL AS INSULATION
Some aerogel insulation makers also note the material has a low K-Factor, otherwise known as thermal conductivity. K-Factor is the rate at which heat flows through insulation material. Thermal conductivity as defined by ASTM Standard C168 is “the time rate of steady state heat flow through a unit area of a homogeneous material induced by a unit temperature gradient in a direction perpendicular to that unit area.” To simplify that, K-Factor is measuring the Btus of heat flowing through an inch-thick insulation material each hour across an area one foot by one foot for every degree of Fahrenheit change. Fiberglass has a K-Factor ranging from .22 to .30. By comparison, aerogels can have a K-Factor as low as .01.
Along with aerogel’s publicized benefits, there was a report in March by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in response to concerns from an insulators’ union about exposure to aerogel from handling the material. According to the insulators, they received aerogel insulation on rolls and then moved it to cutting rooms where students practiced measuring, cutting, and wrapping it. The department’s investigators visited the employer’s location in Illinois to analyze airborne exposure and air samples at a training facility where workers were being taught to work with aerogel insulation. What the HHS says it found was “Airborne exposures for amorphous silica approached calculated occupational exposure limits. Most aerogel particles were respirable in size. Many interviewed participants attributed respiratory irritation and very dry skin to handling aerogel insulation. We recommended continued use of personal protective equipment per manufacturer’s safety data sheets to minimize reported health effects.” That said, due to the limited scope of this analysis (i.e., one sample from one instructor providing aerogel instruction), the HHS report states its “results may not be generalizable to other workplace settings.” However, the report also states that employers should “educate staff and students about potential upper respiratory tract irritation and drying effects from prolonged exposure to aerogel insulation.”
[1] Right to Know Hazardous Substance List, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, CAS -00-8According to aerogel.org, Aerogels are a diverse class of porous, solid materials that exhibit an uncanny array of extreme materials properties. Most notably aerogels are known for their extreme low densities (which range from 0. to ~0.5 g cm-3). Silica aerogel is the most common type of aerogel, most frequently seen in photographs and what people generally refer to when using the word “aerogel” without an adjective in front (although there are many other types of aerogel). Silica aerogels have superinsulating properties as illustrated in this photo of aerogel insulating a delicate, moist flower from the raging heat of a Bunsen burner.
Essentially an aerogel is the dry, low-density, porous, solid framework of a gel (the part of a gel that gives the gel its solid-like cohesiveness) isolated in-tact from the gel’s liquid component (the part that makes up most of the volume of the gel). Aerogels are open-porous (that is, the gas in the aerogel is not trapped inside solid pockets) and have pores in the range of <1 to 100 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in diameter and usually <20 nm.
Aerogels are dry materials (unlike “regular” gels you might think of, which are usually wet like gelatin dessert). The word aerogel refers to the fact that aerogels are derived from gels–effectively the solid structure of a wet gel, only with a gas or vacuum in its pores instead of liquid
A major advantage to using silica aerogel as a thermal insulation material in our insulation blankets is enhanced energy efficiency, and in turn, reduced harmful emissions resulting from energy consumption and cheaper utility bills. Silica aerogels are best known for tremendously low thermal conductivity, which can take on values as low as 0.015 W m-1 K-1. That’s something like the equivalent insulating value of a stack of 30 panes of window glass compacted into a single inch (2.54 cm)!
Silica Aerogel also offers superior defense against CUI, or corrosion under insulation.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Nano.
We are proud to use Aerogel products from Aspen Aerogels® in our insulation blankets including Pyrogel® XTE for hot applications & Cryogel® Z for cryogenic applications. Aspen Aerogels products are used by leading global companies in key energy market segments.
Aspen’s Aerogel insulation is up to five times more effective than traditional insulation while being industrially robust in a space-saving form, making it the best industrial insulation on the market.
Aerogel insulation offers numerous advantages for blankets and other products. Several of these benefits include:
Our products made with Aerogel insulation enhance durability and cost-effectiveness in the ways you need them most.
Aerogel jacket insulation is beneficial for numerous industries and applications. Some areas where it is most effective include:
If your application meets any of the following qualifications, Aerogel insulation is likely a suitable choice:
Aerogel is one of many types of insulation, each offering unique benefits and disadvantages. Other insulation types include:
Compared to these insulation types, Aerogel consistently outperforms and offers several additional benefits.
Do you have questions or want to learn more about Aerogel? Our team is prepared to answer all your inquiries and provide more information about our Aerogel jackets and other insulation products.
We provide insulation for organizations in several industries, including:
For more information, please visit Aerogel Blanket.