Mechanically Strong, Lightweight Porous Materials Developed (X-Aerogels)

Abstract

Aerogels are attractive materials for a variety of NASA missions because they are ultralightweight, have low thermal conductivity and low-dielectric constants, and can be readily doped with other materials. Potential NASA applications for these materials include lightweight insulation for spacecraft, habitats, and extravehicular activity (EVA) suits; catalyst supports for fuel cell and in situ resource utilization; and sensors for air- and water-quality monitoring for vehicles, habitats, and EVA suits. Conventional aerogels are extremely fragile and require processing via supercritical fluid extraction, which adds cost to the production of an aerogel and limits the sizes and geometries of samples that can be produced from these materials. These issues have severely hampered the application of aerogels in NASA missions.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Keywords and Phrases

Aerogels; Porous materials; Thermal conductivity

Document Type

Technical Report

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2005 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2005

Link to Full Text

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