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An ultra-lightweight material, Aerogel, invented in 1930, developed by NASA, is leading to the production of more efficient insulation for homes and highly insulated clothing. Aerogel is a efficient insulator, despite its light weight. Space suits designed for the 2018 mission to mars have an 18 mm (0.7 in) layer of Aerogel and are designed to protect astronauts to temperatures as low as -130C (-202F).

Previously too expensive to produce for commercial uses, Aerogel has been used to insulate a residential home:

Earlier this year Bob Stoker, 66, from Nottingham, became the first Briton to have his property insulated with aerogel. “The heating has improved significantly. I turned the thermostat down five degrees. It’s been a remarkable transformation,” he said.

No word on the cost or installation specs from this article, but a 5C reduction in home heating costs would translate to a large energy savings when extrapolated to all homes that require heating or air conditioning.

Aerogel is also being hailed as a material that could be used to clean up environmental spills.

It also has green credentials. Aerogel is described by scientists as the “ultimate sponge”, with millions of tiny pores on its surface making it ideal for absorbing pollutants in water.

Kanatzidis has created a new version of aerogel designed to mop up lead and mercury from water. Other versions are designed to absorb oil spills.

He is optimistic that it could be used to deal with environmental catastrophes such as the Sea Empress spillage in 1996, when 72,000 tons of crude oil were released off the coast of Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire.

I imagine that we’ll be hearing much more about Aerogel over the next decade as it makes its way into more and more commercial products and uses. Made mostly of silica and carbon dioxide, the ingredients are much more inert than petroleum based products.

Click here for more information: Wikipedia

Article source: Times Online

Image Credit: NASA/JPL