WHAT IS AIRGEL

Airgel is a synthetic porous ultralight material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component for the gel has been replaced by a gas without significant collapse of the gel structure. The result is a solid with extremely low density and extremely low thermal conductivity. its translucent nature and the way in which light is scattered in the material,

 

 

Nicknames due to him include frozen smoke, solid smoke, solid wind, solid cloud and blue smoke. Silica aerogels feel like delicate expanded polystyrene to the touch, while some polymer-based aerogels feel like rigid foam. Aerogels can be made from a variety of chemical compounds. Airgel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Lerne that could replace the liquid in "jelly" with a gas without compressing it. Aerogels are produced by extracting the liquid component of the gel through supercritical drying or freeze-drying. This allows the liquid to dry slowly, causing the solid matrix in the gel to collapse by capillary action, as is the case with conventional evaporation. First aerogels can be made from silica, carbon, metal oxidation etc. Kistler's later work included aerogels based on alumina, chromia and tin dioxide.

They have the following features-
1. It acts as a very good thermal insulator.
2. Being hygroscopic, it protects against the effects of water.
3. It is very strong for the weight.
4. Works as a very good adsorbent.

Carbon aerogels were first developed in the late 1980s.Due to these properties of aerogel, it is used in many places like paints, cosmetics, insulators etc.