Aerogel is a material created by the scientist Steven Kistler in 1930, in his attempt to achieve a material that would maintain its volume by replacing the water contained in it with air (gas). Despite its almost transparent appearance, it is a solid, rigid, high-strength material but it is also fragile. The great advantage of aerogel is its low weight due to the high percentage of air voids (no less than 90%). This characteristic makes it the perfect material for thermal insulation. The air contained in these voids is not a very good conductor of heat. On the other hand, this material does not transmit heat either by convection or radiation.
Non-hydrophilic and non-combustible
If used as thermal insulation must be treated to convert it into non-hydrophilic material. The reason for this is its great capacity to absorb any type of liquid with which it comes into contact. We all know that a wet thermal insulator loses its thermal performance. On the other hand, aerogel is capable of withstanding temperatures of 1200ºC. It is fireproof
