Advancements in Aerogels for Aerospace Applications: A Comprehensive Review
Keywords:
Aerogels, Astronautical, Maerogel, AcousticalAbstract
Aerogels are made using the sol-gel method and supercritical drying technology. They are very porous structures. When compared to other solids, silica aerogel has the lowest density, thermal conductivity, refractive index, and dielectric constant of all the different types of aerogels. Its acoustical properties let sound waves to be absorbed, slowing them down to 100 m/s from 332 m/s for air. The outcome is hardly what was anticipated when it comes to commercialization, though. It seems that mass production, particularly in the aerospace industry, has dawdled behind. This paper highlights the evolution of aerogels in general and discusses the functions and significances of silica aerogel in previous astronautical applications. Future outer-space applications have been proposed as per the current research trend. Finally, the implementation of conventional silica aerogel in aeronautics isargued with an alternative known as Maerogel.
References
References
J. Fricke and T. Tillotson, “Aerogels: production, characterization, and applications,” Thin Solid Films, vol. 297, no. 1-2, pp. 212–223, 1997.
J. Fricke and A. Emmerling, “Aerogels—recent progress in production techniques and novel applications,” Journal of Sol- Gel Science and Technology, vol. 13, no. 1–3, pp. 299–303, 1999.
M. Schmidt and F. Schwertfeger, “Applications for silica aerogel products,” Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 225, no. 1–3,pp. 364–368, 1998.
G. Herrmann, R. Iden, M. Mielke, F. Teich, and B. Ziegler, “On the way to commercial production of silica aerogel,” Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 186, pp. 380–387, 1995.
Y. K. Akimov, “Fields of application of aerogels,” Pribory i Tekhnika Eksperimenta, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 5–19, 2003.
A. C. Pierre and G. M. Pajonk, “Chemistry of aerogels and their applications,” Chemical Reviews, vol. 102, no. 11, pp. 4243–4265, 2002.
C. A. M. Mulder and J. G. Lierop, “Preparation, densification and characterization of autoclave dried SiO2 gels,” in Aerogels, J.Fricke, Ed., pp. 68–75, Springer, Berlin,Germany, 1986.
L. W. Hrubesh, “Aerogels: theworld’s lightest solids,” Chemistry and Industry, no. 24, pp. 824–827, 1990.
S. R. Hostler, A. R. Abramson,M.D.Gawryla, S.A. Bandi, and D. A. Schiraldi, “Thermal conductivity of a clay-based aerogel,” International Journal of Heat andMass Transfer, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 665–669, 2009.
G.Wei, Y. Liu, X. Zhang, F. Yu, and X. Du, “Thermal conductivities study on silica aerogel and its composite insulation materials,” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 54, no. 11-12, pp. 2355–2366, 2011.
G. Wei, Y. Liu, X. Du, and X. Zhang, “Gaseous conductivity study on silica aerogel and its composite insulation materials,”Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 134, no. 4, Article ID 041301, 5
pages, 2012.
J.-J. Zhao, Y.-Y. Duan, X.-D. Wang, and B.-X. Wang, “A 3-Dnumerical heat transfer model for silica aerogels based on the porous secondary nanoparticle aggregate structure,” Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 358, no. 10, pp. 1287–1297, 2012.
J.-J. Zhao, Y.-Y. Duan, X.-D.Wang, and B.-X.Wang, “An analytical model for combined radiative and conductive heat transfer in fiber-loaded silica aerogels,” Journal ofNon-Crystalline Solids, vol. 358, no. 10, pp. 1303–1312, 2012.
S. S. Kistler, “Coherent expanded aerogels and jellies,” Nature, vol. 127, no. 3211, p. 741, 1931.
S. S. Kistler, “Coherent expanded aerogels,” Journal of Physical
Chemistry, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 52–64, 1932.
S. S. Kistler, “The relation between heat conductivity and structure
in silica aerogel,” Journal of Physical Chemistry, vol. 39, no.
, pp. 79–85, 1935.
Stardust. NASA, January 2013, http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/
photo/aerogel.html.
S. S. Kistler and A. G. Caldwell, “Thermal conductivity of silica
aerogel,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry, vol. 26, pp. 658–
, 1934.
C. E. Carraher Jr., “General topics,” Polymer News, vol. 30, no. 2,
pp. 62–64, 2005.
G. M. Pajonk, “Some applications of silica aerogels,” Colloid and
Polymer Science, vol. 281, no. 7, pp. 637–651, 2003.
S. J. Teichner and G. A. Nicoloan, “Method of preparing inorganic
aerogels,” US patent no. 3,672,833, 1972.
S. J. Teichner, G. A. Nicolaon, M. A. Vicarini, and G. E. E.
Gardes, “Inorganic oxide aerogels,” Advances in Colloid and
Interface Science, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 245–273, 1976.
G. Poelz and R. Riethm¨uller, “Preparation of silica aerogel for
Cherenkov counters,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods, vol.
, no. 3, pp. 491–503, 1982.
Airglass AB, January 2013, http://www.airglass.se/.
P. H. Tewari and A. J. Hunt, “Process for forming transparent
aerogel insulating arrays,” US patent no. 4,610,863, 1986.
P. H. Tewari, A. J. Hunt, and K. D. Lofftus, “Ambient-temperature
supercritical drying of transparent silica aerogels,” Materials
Letters, vol. 3, no. 9-10, pp. 363–367, 1985.
T. Woignier and J. Phalippou, “Skeletal density of silica aerogels,”
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 93, no. 1, pp. 17–21,
R. W. Pekala, “Organic aerogels from the polycondensation of
resorcinol with formaldehyde,” Journal ofMaterials Science, vol.
, no. 9, pp. 3221–3227, 1989.
T. M. Tillotson and L.W. Hrubesh, “Transparent ultralow-density
silica aerogels prepared by a two-step sol-gel process,” Journal
of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 145, pp. 44–50, 1992.
S. T.Mayer, R.W. Pekala, and J. L. Kaschmitter, “Theaerocapacitor:
an electrochemical double-layer energy-storage device,”
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 140, no. 2, pp. 446–
, 1993.
R. W. Pekala, S. T. Mayer, J. L. Kaschmitter, and F. M. Kong,
“Carbon aerogels: an update on structure, properties, and applications,”
in Sol-Gel Processing and Applications, Y. A. Attia, Ed.,
pp. 369–377, Springer, Berlin, Germany, 1994.
D. M. Smith, R. Deshpande, and C. J. Brinker, “Preparation of
low-density aerogels at ambient pressure,” in Better Ceramics
through Chemistry V, M. J. Hampden-Smith, W. G. Klemperer,
andC. J. Brinker, Eds., vol. 271 ofMRS Proceedings, pp. 567–572,
S. S. Prakash, C. J. Brinker, A. J. Hurd, and S. M. Rao, “Silica
aerogel films prepared at ambient pressure by using surface derivatization
to induce reversible drying shrinkage,” Nature, vol.
, pp. 439–443, 1995.
F. Shi, L. Wang, and J. Liu, “Synthesis and characterization of
silica aerogels by a novel fast ambient pressure drying process,”
Materials Letters, vol. 60, no. 29-30, pp. 3718–3722, 2006.
T.-Y.Wei, T.-F. Chang, S.-Y. Lu, and Y.-C. Chang, “Preparation
of monolithic silica aerogel of low thermal conductivity by
ambient pressure drying,” Journal of theAmerican Ceramic Society,
vol. 90, no. 7, pp. 2003–2007, 2007.
S. D. Bhagat, Y.-H. Kim, K.-H. Suh, Y.-S. Ahn, J.-G. Yeo, and J.-
H. Han, “Superhydrophobic silica aerogel powders with simultaneous
surface modification, solvent exchange and sodium ion
removal from hydrogels,” Microporous and Mesoporous Materials,
vol. 112, no. 1–3, pp. 504–509, 2008.
