4 ms·

What exactly makes aerogels expensive to produce? Is it the materials or is it the manufacturing process?

• mnemonicsloth 17y ago
  Dunno yet. Still reading: http://www.aerogel.org/?p=990 http://www.aerogel.org/?p=990
• ph0rque 17y ago
  Materials are just organics (plastic). The process is very hard to scale, afaik.
• physcab 17y ago
  From what I remember from my Intro to Materials class, aerojels have to be made from a sol-gel process, meaning that at any period the quantity is going to be inherently small. You have to introduce the right chemicals at specific periods so that the structure you want is made correctly. It's a very delicate process. I'm not sure if there is a way to scale this process to the point it can be used for insulation purposes, but the material properties are phenomenal.
• camccann 17y ago
  Mostly manufacturing, I believe. If memory serves me, the process involves supercritical drying--you put a liquid-based gel into a vessel under very high temperature and pressure until the gas/liquid states become interchangeable, then gradually remove the supercritical fluid, tweaking the temperature as needed, until enough fluid is removed. Once brought back to STP, the gel structure is left behind in the same form it had with the liquid medium, but with all the liquid removed. Mistakes at almost any step in the process will permanently ruin the batch of gel, of course.