Aerogel was invented by Samuel Stephens Kistler, in 1930.
Aerogel is made by combining silica with a solvent to make a gel. This gel is then subjected to supercritical fluid extraction,which is where they introduce liquid carbon dioxide in liquid form to the gel, the decompress it so it all evaporates out, leaving just the structure of the gel, and air.
About 99.99% of aerogel is air.
Nasa uses aerogel as an insulator to keep its eletronics warm, on the mars rover, and they also use it to catch space dust and debris.
Hi Finn,
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting information! Great researching, I have learned something new today from reading your blog post. Thank you!
Good work Finn! Weird material that is mostly air! Interesting read!
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