Revolution in Construction is About to Come: New Space- Age Insulating Material

The important  change in the world’s lightest solid material and the best insulating material, as it has been reported lately, may result in putting more of that space-age wonder into buildings, clothing and other common uses.

The electrifying news concerning the development of a new, flexible aerogel  - so light it was nicknamed  “solid smoke”, was announced on the 224^th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

Traditional aerogels, made from silica that is found in beach sand, usually break and crumble easily. In time, scientists have improved the durability of the aerogels. New materials can be up to 500 times stronger than their silica equivalents. A really  thick piece of the aerogel is able to manage the weight of a car. They can also be produced in a thin and flexible forms, making them suitable for all the construction and commercial uses.

The improved aerogels would be perfect for a new series of super-insulating clothes keeping people warm, tents and sleeping bags, home refrigerators  and freezer walls. Even  NASA considers using a heat shield made from the flexible aerogel  that will inflate like a balloon when the spacecraft enters the atmosphere. The stronger and more durable aerogels have been produced in two ways. One involved making changes to the core structure of traditional silica aerogels. Another was based on polyimide and then inserting brace-like crosslinks in order to strengthen the whole structure.