Aerogel glass replaces Low-E glass
Aerogel materials can also be used to make energy-saving glass, which is a certain substitute for traditional Low-E coated glass. Through two pieces of glass, aerogel is sandwiched in the middle to form a "sandwich" structure, which has good thermal insulation, sound insulation, fire resistance and other properties. Aerogel energy-saving glass can be used in buildings with high energy-saving requirements. At the same time, it can replace the general curtain wall glass of high-rise buildings, greatly reduce the weight of the building, and play a fire-proof role. Compared with other types of glass, aerogel glass can help buildings better achieve energy saving, comfort and environment.
Aerogel materials have great advantages in making outdoor protective equipment, and can be processed into lighter and thinner clothing with equally excellent thermal insulation performance. The thermal conductivity of aerogel materials is lower than that of white duck down, the filling material of down jackets on the market, and is half the thermal conductivity of air. When aerogel is made into ready-made clothes, the thickness of aerogel ready-made clothes is 1/4 of that of traditional warm clothing under the same warming effect.

At present, the domestic manufacturers that use aerogel technology to make ready-made clothes mainly include OROS, SUPILD, and Longya. OROS is a high-tech jacket manufacturer established through a crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter website in 2015. It mainly provides jackets and jackets for outdoor adventures. Its products use SolarCore aerogel insulation materials, which are similar to the insulation materials used by NASA to protect Mars rovers and space suits in the harshest environments. SUPILD is an advanced technology clothing brand that focuses on the development and application of new textile materials. It has established new material research and development centers and supply chain centers in Silicon Valley, the United States and Shanghai, China. It has obtained the first domestic patent for aerogel clothing officially launched on the market, becoming the pioneer of aerogel clothing in China.
Aerogel can be used in clothing products by combining with composite fiber non-woven fabrics to form composite materials. For example, P cotton (Primalloft insulation cotton) can fuse aerogel into the composite fiber to improve the mechanical properties of the aerogel itself and make the fiber have better thermal insulation performance. Aerogel fiber can also be prepared by perfectly combining with polyester fiber. According to relevant patent data, depending on the thickness and gram weight of non-woven fabrics, a 1-3mm thick silica aerogel composite material with an aerogel concentration of 200-400g/㎡ can be made through relevant preparation processes.

Improvement in aerogel cost is beneficial to domestic development

Compared with traditional insulation materials, aerogel has obvious advantages, but its disadvantages are still prominent: high production costs and expensive products. The production cost of aerogel is mainly concentrated in the raw material silicon source, equipment depreciation and energy consumption. Among them, equipment depreciation and energy consumption costs account for about 60% of the total cost of the industrial chain. Effective cost reduction depends on breakthroughs in preparation technology on the one hand, and on the large-scale industrialization of low-cost raw materials on the other.