1. Aerogels, Solids Lighter then Air. John Calvin Martinez February 25 th 2009 MEEN 3344 – 001 Dr. Larry Peel

2. What are Aerogels? Aerogels were first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1951. Strengths Aerogels are solid, but can be less dense then air. Despite their sparse molecular structure aerogels are strong. Aerogels are excellent insulators. Weaknesses Aerogels are traditionally expensive and difficult to manufacture, and they are difficult to handle.

3. Practical Applications Aerogels have numerous applications. NASA used an aerogel to capture space dust, with the Stardust spacecraft. NASA also used an aerogel to insulate the Mars Rover. The US Navy is investigating the use of aerogels to provide more insulation for divers. And aerogels are also being used in detectors for particle physics. Aerogel blocks on NASA's stardust detector Aerogel as insulation 2 grams of aerogel supporting 2.4 Kg brick

4. Manufacturing Aerogels a formed by a process known as supercritical drying, in which the liquid from the gel base is removed and replaced by a gas, leaving a solid structure. Aspen Aerogels is a leading producer of aerogels, having streamlined to production process to reduce the cost of production.

5. References Wikipedia “Aerogels” 18 th February 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel NASA Science and Technical Information, Spinoff2001 http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff2001/ch5.html Aspen Aerogels http://www.aerogel.com/ All pictures are from the Aerogel photo gallery