A review of state-of-the-art aerogel applications in buildings

Saffa B. Riffat and Guoquan Qiu

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, 2011, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Aerogels are a special type of solid material with nanometre-scale pores <1/3000th the width of a human hair. Porosity is in excess of 90%, in some cases as high as 99.9%, and densities can be as low as 3 kg/m-super-3. Aerogels are essentially ‘puffed-up sand’ and are often termed ‘frozen smoke’. Their thermal conductivity (0.014 W/m K at room temperature) is the lowest of any solids, and they also have good transparency. The acoustic properties of aerogels make them effective insulators against noise, and aerogels have the lowest refractive index, and dielectric constant of all solid materials. The unusual properties of aerogels open the way to a new range of opportunities for their application in buildings. This paper provides information on their unique features and reviews the potential applications for aerogels in buildings as well as latest developments in the field. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

Date: 2011
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