As a revolutionary nano porous material, aerogel is changing the face of many industries through its unique physical and chemical properties. This material, known as' solid smoke ', has over 98% air inside and a minimum density of 0.12 milligrams per cubic centimeter, yet it possesses astonishing mechanical properties and thermal protection capabilities. The following is a comprehensive analysis of how aerogels change the world from three aspects: characteristics, application fields and future development trends.
1、 Unique characteristics and advantages of aerogel
Aerogel is a new type of nano porous solid material, which has the following remarkable characteristics:
Ultra light weight and high porosity: the volume of all pores together accounts for the vast majority of the volume of the entire aerogel, even up to 99%, making it the smallest solid material with known density.
Excellent thermal insulation performance: The slender nano network structure effectively limits the propagation of local thermal excitation, and its solid-state thermal conductivity is 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the corresponding glassy materials. A thickness of 12mm can block high temperatures up to 1200 ℃.
Multifunctionality: It has the characteristics of high temperature resistance (up to 1500 ℃), high elasticity, strong adsorption, good waterproof effect, wide temperature range of use, and long service life.
Structural controllability: By changing the preparation conditions, the correlation length can be varied within two orders of magnitude, making it the best material for studying fractal structures and their dynamic behavior.
2、 Revolutionary applications of aerogels in various fields
1. In the field of building energy conservation
Aerogel is reshaping the energy-saving standards of the construction industry:
External wall insulation: the sandwich external wall panel structure of aerogel insulation layer can improve the construction efficiency, such as the patent technology developed by Wuxi Light and Large.
Interior wall coating: aerogel powder can be used for interior wall coating to meet the fire protection requirements of withstanding 400 ℃ or above.
Glass insulation: aerogel glass can reduce heat loss by about 20% in summer and block about 40% of indoor hot air in winter.
Energy saving effect: compared with traditional materials, aerogel can reduce energy consumption of buildings by 40% and carbon dioxide emissions by 36%.
2. Aerospace field
Aerogel has become a key material for aerospace engineering:
Mars exploration: applied to the insulation system of Tianwen-1 Mars probe and Zhurong Mars rover.
Rocket technology: used for the insulation layer of the Long March 5 rocket engine, with a thickness of 12mm, it can block high temperatures of 1200 ℃.
Space suit: Manufacturing a new generation of space flight suits with super insulation performance to support the expedition to Mars.
3. In the field of energy and environmental protection
Aerogels play an important role in energy transformation and environmental protection:
Battery technology: As a thermal insulation sheet for power batteries, a thickness of only 1/5-1/3 of traditional materials can achieve the same insulation effect.
Industrial energy conservation: Applied in industries such as petrochemicals and power, it reduces heat loss of pipelines and equipment by more than 50%.
Pollution control: Used for oil-water separation and air purification, it can efficiently adsorb harmful substances such as lead and mercury in sewage.
4. Medical and health field
Aerogels show great potential in the medical field:
Wearable equipment: super elastic friction electric gel is used in intelligent medical sensor system, which can monitor human movement and health indicators.
Wound treatment: AuCu@CuO2 Aerogel can regulate the wound microenvironment of diabetes, promote healing and inhibit bacterial growth.
Drug carrier: With its high specific surface area and biocompatibility, it has become an ideal material for drug release and tissue engineering.
3、 Future development trend of aerogels
With the progress of technology, the application prospect of aerogel is broader:
Market growth: QY Research predicts that the aerogel industry will maintain rapid growth in the next few years, especially in the field of new energy and new materials.
Technological innovation:
Development of multi-scale gas mimicking gel, such as multifunctional integrated materials of University of Science and Technology of China.
3D printing technology enables customized production with a precision of 10 μ m.
Intelligent response aerogel endows materials with the ability of "intelligent perception".
Policy support: China's Opinions on Completely, Accurately and Comprehensively Implementing the New Development Concept and Doing a Good Job in Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutralization clearly promotes the R&D and application of aerogels.
Sustainable development: Biogas gel takes agricultural and forestry wastes as raw materials, greatly reducing production energy consumption, and realizing full life cycle biodegradation.
Aerogel, a "multi-functional material that can change the world", is breaking through the performance limit of traditional materials with its lightweight and high-performance characteristics, moving from laboratory to industrialization, profoundly affecting many fields such as architecture, energy, medical treatment, environmental protection, and providing innovative solutions for sustainable development. With the deepening of research and development and the expansion of application, aerogel will continue to change our lifestyle and shape a more energy-saving, efficient and environmentally friendly future world.