How are aerogels manufactured?

Aerogels are produced by extracting the liquid component of a gel through supercritical drying or freeze-drying. This allows the liquid to be slowly dried off without causing the solid matrix in the gel to collapse from capillary action, as would happen with conventional evaporation.

Can I make my own aerogel?

It is possible to make aerogels, including silica aerogels, without supercritical drying–in fact, using evaporative drying techniques. Not only that, you can make silica aerogel monoliths with high transparency, low density, and superinsulating abilities without supercritical drying.

How much does it cost to produce aerogel?

Even though producing more aerogel at a time would bring its price down, the process and materials alone come with a high price tag of about $1.00 per cubic centimeter. At about $23,000 per pound, aerogel is currently more expensive than gold [source: NASA JPL, FAQs]!

What is the formula for aerogel?

SiO2
Chemical Identifiers

Can u eat aerogel?

Do not eat. Although Aeroeggs are made from real eggs and in principle egg aerogels could be eaten if prepared properly, these aerogels are supercritically dried in industrial equipment that processes chemicals and that is not food grade making them not edible. Seriously don’t eat them, not even rehydrated.

Who invented aerogel?

Samuel Stephens Kistler
Samuel Stephens Kistler, the inventor of aerogel. It is a great story and details the origins of aerogel. In it you will discover that aerogel was invented some time between 1929 and 1930, believe it or not, and was first commercialized as early as the 1950’s.

Who manufactures aerogel?

Aerogel Technologies, LLC
Aerogel Technologies, LLC is the world’s leading manufacturer of mechanically strong aerogel materials and monolithic aerogels, leading online distributor of aerogel materials, and leading provider of custom aerogel solutions. Learn more about our company and its technologies in the video below.