Subject: Re: Aerogels - alternative uses - windows/insulation

From: Eugene Watson <[email-masked]>
Date: 27 Mar 1996 17:20:32 GMT

[email-masked] (SteveH1491) wrote:
> 
> Title:       Through a glass lightly. (aerogels, transparent materials
>              more insulating than glass and almost as light as air)
> Citation:    The Economist, Oct 8, 1988 v309 n7571 p85(2)
> 
> CONSIDER a transparent material that is 100 times more insulating than
> glass, and almost as light as air. It is hard to imagine, but has proved
> not impossible to make. It is being sold by Airglass, a small Swedish
> firm that will seek customers among makers of solar panels for heating
> water. The panels are only the beginning. After more than 50 years in
> the laboratory, a class of materials known as aerogels is beginning to
> make its ghostly presence felt.
> 

If these aerogels are so thermally efficient there would be
considerable interest from cold climate builders - large heat
loss in domestic facilities occur via glass conduction, even in
the double glazing scenario's

So lets hear more if this is more.....

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From: [email-masked] (SteveH1491)
Date: 27 Mar 1996 20:35:56 -0500

I didn't want to post the whole article due to a little something we like
to call "copyright laws," but I was hoping to hear from anyone who was
using the stuff.  It sounds massively useful, even revolutionary.  I hope
you look up the article if it sounds promising.

According to the article it can be cast into panels or spun into a
weavable thread.  It soaks up toxic chemicals, and might possibly be used
as a completely safe insecticide (bugs eat it and die when the stuff
sponges up all their inner moisture).

---

From: [email-masked] (Carl Windnagle)
Date: 25 MAR 96 10:00:53

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (SteveH1491) writes...
>Has anyone here considered using aerogels in solar heating and power
>applications?  I ran across an intriguing article about them (first
>paragraph reproduced below).  They appear to be highly efficient solar
>collectors, and I shouldn't think would be too expensive.  The article
>goes on to claim that collectors using aerogels are so efficient that
>water can actually be brought to a boil from ambient sunshine, which would
>put non-photovoltaic solar applications into an entirely new class of
>usefulness.
> 
> 
Aerogels are not necessary to boil water with ambient sunlight, a solar oven
can do this with just a plastic bag as insulation (no glass).

Regarding aerogels, it is my understanding that they are still very expensive
and can only be used in limited applications because of their fragility.

There is more information on aerogels on the Berkeley home page.

/carl