16 June 2013
The development of cost-effective thermal insulation materials, which holds a lot of potential in Qatar and the rest of the region that sizzle under intense summer temperatures, is to get a fillip from a new research programme at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQ).
The university's project, "Mechanically Strong Aerogels with Custom Shapes", has been awarded an $881,000 National Priorities Research Programme (NPRP) grant by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) recently.
The three-year project aims to develop cost-effective up-scalable fabrication methodology, yielding mechanically robust aerogels with custom shapes.
Aerogels are good thermal insulators because they almost nullify two of the three methods of heat transfer (convection, conduction and radiation) as they are composed almost entirely of air, which is a very poor heat conductor.
"So, these aerogels can be used for thermal insulation and passive fire protection of structural elements in buildings, insulation of selected parts of internal combustion engines and in the manufacture of lightweight footwear for extreme cold conditions like climbing expeditions," said project co-leader Dr Khaled Saoud, assistant professor of physics, Liberal Arts & Sciences Department at VCUQ.
"The project will lead to applications in many fields, the immediate use of which in Qatar includes insulation of buildings and houses. Also, new thermal insulation materials will reduce energy consumption and provide comfort and protection from fire," he explained.
Aerogels are ultra-light, highly porous and highly-thermal insulating materials. Because of their unique combination of properties, aerogels are being considered for applications as varied as thermal and sound insulation for the aerospace industry, as absorbents for environmental remediation and as catalyst supports. Given that aerogels are also mechanically fragile, their use has been limited to niche applications such as thermal insulation for the Mars Rovers, as collectors of space and comet dust and as Cerenkov detectors.
Dr Saoud and project co-lead Dr Massimo Bertino, associate professor of physics, College of Humanities and Sciences, VCU Richmond, have been developing strong and highly-thermal insulating materials using alternative fabrication methods.
These have enabled the production of mechanically strong custom parts, which are made by reinforcing the regions of highest solicitation with a polymer. Recently, their group demonstrated that cross-linked aerogel composites can be produced by photopolymerisation. These composites are ideal for applications as they allow to reinforce only the regions of aerogels that are most subject to mechanical stress.
Worldwide, there are about 20 companies that produce or use aerogels. Of these, 60% are US-based, 20% are in Europe and 20% in China. "To our knowledge, there is only one producer that reports the ability of producing custom shapes (Shaoxing Nanuo High Tech, Shaoxing, China). The aerogels produced by this company, however, are mechanically weak and doubts remain regarding their viability as mechanical components," observed Dr Bertino.
No data is available on mechanically strong aerogels even though it is rumored that Aspen Aerogels is starting developing materials based on a Nasa patent originally developed by N Leventis. "Even then, Leventis' original aerogels are not as good thermal insulators as the locally-reinforced aerogels proposed here," he maintained. "The ultimate goal of our research is to bring the photo-cross-linking technology to the market. To attain this goal, we will conduct research and develop low-cost approaches for the production of photo-cross-linkable aerogels with custom shapes. We will fabricate proof-of-the-concept parts and make the fabrication procedure simple, cost-effective and upscalable."
The results of the project are to be used to seek funds from institutional and private investors and start large-scale fabrication in Qatar. "In the long run, we intend to enable Qatar to become a major supplier of aerogel materials and aerogel custom parts for thermal insulation. This project could introduce a new area of commercialisable technology to Qatar," Dr Saoud added.
The development of cost-effective thermal insulation materials, which holds a lot of potential in Qatar and the rest of the region that sizzle under intense summer temperatures, is to get a fillip from a new research programme at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQ).
The university's project, "Mechanically Strong Aerogels with Custom Shapes", has been awarded an $881,000 National Priorities Research Programme (NPRP) grant by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) recently.
The three-year project aims to develop cost-effective up-scalable fabrication methodology, yielding mechanically robust aerogels with custom shapes.
Aerogels are good thermal insulators because they almost nullify two of the three methods of heat transfer (convection, conduction and radiation) as they are composed almost entirely of air, which is a very poor heat conductor.
"So, these aerogels can be used for thermal insulation and passive fire protection of structural elements in buildings, insulation of selected parts of internal combustion engines and in the manufacture of lightweight footwear for extreme cold conditions like climbing expeditions," said project co-leader Dr Khaled Saoud, assistant professor of physics, Liberal Arts & Sciences Department at VCUQ.
"The project will lead to applications in many fields, the immediate use of which in Qatar includes insulation of buildings and houses. Also, new thermal insulation materials will reduce energy consumption and provide comfort and protection from fire," he explained.
Aerogels are ultra-light, highly porous and highly-thermal insulating materials. Because of their unique combination of properties, aerogels are being considered for applications as varied as thermal and sound insulation for the aerospace industry, as absorbents for environmental remediation and as catalyst supports. Given that aerogels are also mechanically fragile, their use has been limited to niche applications such as thermal insulation for the Mars Rovers, as collectors of space and comet dust and as Cerenkov detectors.
Dr Saoud and project co-lead Dr Massimo Bertino, associate professor of physics, College of Humanities and Sciences, VCU Richmond, have been developing strong and highly-thermal insulating materials using alternative fabrication methods.
These have enabled the production of mechanically strong custom parts, which are made by reinforcing the regions of highest solicitation with a polymer. Recently, their group demonstrated that cross-linked aerogel composites can be produced by photopolymerisation. These composites are ideal for applications as they allow to reinforce only the regions of aerogels that are most subject to mechanical stress.
Worldwide, there are about 20 companies that produce or use aerogels. Of these, 60% are US-based, 20% are in Europe and 20% in China. "To our knowledge, there is only one producer that reports the ability of producing custom shapes (Shaoxing Nanuo High Tech, Shaoxing, China). The aerogels produced by this company, however, are mechanically weak and doubts remain regarding their viability as mechanical components," observed Dr Bertino.
No data is available on mechanically strong aerogels even though it is rumored that Aspen Aerogels is starting developing materials based on a Nasa patent originally developed by N Leventis. "Even then, Leventis' original aerogels are not as good thermal insulators as the locally-reinforced aerogels proposed here," he maintained. "The ultimate goal of our research is to bring the photo-cross-linking technology to the market. To attain this goal, we will conduct research and develop low-cost approaches for the production of photo-cross-linkable aerogels with custom shapes. We will fabricate proof-of-the-concept parts and make the fabrication procedure simple, cost-effective and upscalable."
The results of the project are to be used to seek funds from institutional and private investors and start large-scale fabrication in Qatar. "In the long run, we intend to enable Qatar to become a major supplier of aerogel materials and aerogel custom parts for thermal insulation. This project could introduce a new area of commercialisable technology to Qatar," Dr Saoud added.
© Gulf Times 2013
