Nanoporous silica aerogels have been known for over 80 years, but had not been commercialized at significant scale until the last decade. A combination of improving the form factor, better design of formulation chemistry, and creation of an efficient manufacturing process have been responsible for successful commercialization.  To date, commercialization has been primarily in industrial thermal insulation applications wherein technical performance is paramount. Thin, flexible silica aerogel composites are sold by Aspen Aerogels for use as thermal and acoustic insulation in a broad range of applications covering cryogenic to temperatures up to 650C. The engineered hydrophobicity functionality integrated into the organosilane-silicate polymer backbone in these products allows for any moisture ingress into the system to be removed by vapor diffusion in hot applications and to be significantly diminished in cryogenic applications even in the absence of a vapor barrier. This presentation will focus on how hydrophobicity is derived from various classes of precursors and how this property is safely translated into value in real world applications.

Industrial applications of fiber-reinforced hydrophobic silica aerogel composites

252nd National Meeting (2016)

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