Aerogels are finest insulating materials
Q. Aerogels are used as- Published on 09 Feb 16a. Fuel
b. Insulation
c. Liquid conductors
d. Carriers of
ANSWER: Insulation
- Aerogels, which are among the lightest solid materials known to man, are one of the finest insulation materials available. Traditional aerogels are mainly made of silica, which is not environment-friendly.
- In a world’s first, scientists have successfully converted paper waste into green cellulose aerogels that are non-toxic, ultra-light, flexible, extremely strong and water repellent.
- This novel material is ideal for applications such as oil spill cleaning, heat insulation as well as packaging, and it can potentially be used as coating materials for drug delivery and as smart materials for various biomedical applications.
- In addition to low thermal conductivity, these novel aerogels have several unique features, one of which is super high oil absorption capacity — it is up to four times higher than commercial sorbents available in the market.
