How are Insulating Properties of Silica Aerogel Driving its Market?

Due to silica aerogel’s insulating properties, it can be a potential substitute for conventional insulation materials, which include fiberglass (needs careful handling), cellulose (hard to apply), mineral wool (not fire-resistant), and polyurethane (not eco-friendly). In contrast, silica aerogel is recyclable, easy to apply, eco-friendly, and fire-resistant. All these characteristics make it a much better option than all the materials mentioned above. The main aim of enhanced thermal insulation is to reduce the primary energy consumption. Since silica aerogel has low thermal conductivity, of 0.015 watts per meter kelvin, it is a viable option for construction, which is one of its many applications. In addition, this material can also be used to make windows and skylights due to its visible transparency, providing architects with the possibility of reinventing architectural solutions.

As per the research conducted by P&S Intelligence, the global silica aerogel market attained a value of $273.0 million in 2015 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 31.1% in the coming years. Silica aerogel is a lightweight solid material manufactured by the means of the sol-gel chemistry. It is derived from a gel; however, the liquid component of the gel is replaced by a gas. Aerogels contain 95.0% to 99.0% air by volume, which makes them one of the world’s lightest solid materials. Excellent heat insulation properties, low density, high porosity, and low dielectric constant are some characteristics which make this material versatile enough to be used in several applications, such as oil & gas, aerospace & defense, industrial insulation, transportation, and building insulation.

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The transportation industry uses silica aerogel to insulate commercial and personal vehicles, such as railroad passenger cars, mass transit cars, and trucks, as the insulation assists in reducing the noise and heat in these vehicles. Other features which make aerogel insulation suitable for the automotive industry include its resistance to moisture and superior resistance flame spread and smoke emission. Silica aerogel is also suitable for applications in the aerospace industry as it is the lightest insulation material available with high thermal conductivity. It was used to insulate the NASA MARS rover, where it successfully prevented the escape of the heat to outside the rover body walls. The rover spacecraft consisted of a silica aerogel-insulated warm electronics box, a battery thermal switch heat rejection system, and radioisotope heating units (RHU). Other than this, the Stardust spacecraft also made use of silica aerogel to encapsulate the cosmic particles from the comet tail. “Cosmic bullets” were trapped through the use of this material as the spacecraft flew through a comet’s tail in January 2004. 

The eco-friendliness of silica aerogel is another major aspect which is resulting in its increased demand. Silica aerogel materials are quite similar to naturally occurring minerals, as environment-friendly raw materials are used for their manufacturing, and they don’t emit or possess any harmful chemicals. Furthermore, it is a reusable solid and can be disposed of safely. For instance, silica aerogels blankets that are used to insulate buildings can later be recycled and processed as composites and additives for other applications such as coatings and plasters. Due to these advantages of silica aerogel over other conventional insulating materials, its requirement is growing.

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Created on Oct 18th 2019 15:36. Viewed 248 times.

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