Abstract
Silica aerogels are a nanoporous material with extremely high porosity (up to ~99.8 %), low density (as low as ~0.005 g/cm3), and low thermal conductivity (~0.010–0.020 W/(mK)). Aerogels can also be made with a translucent or transparent state. These structural and functional features make aerogels a multifunctional material for many important applications. In this work, we discuss the perspective of aerogels as super insulation materials and window glazings in the building and construction sector. It shows that different research and development (R&D) strategies of aerogels shall be considered when aiming for different applications; reducing the manufacture cost, improving the service durability, and minimizing the environmental impacts of aerogels are important factors to be addressed. We show also the R&D potentials of developing aerogel-like materials with improved structural or functional performance for building related applications.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by the Research Council of Norway and several partners through “The Research Centre on Zero Emission Buildings” (ZEB).
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Gao, T., Jelle, B.P. (2015). Silica Aerogels: A Multifunctional Building Material. In: Sobolev, K., Shah, S. (eds) Nanotechnology in Construction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17088-6_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17088-6_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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