Ever heard of "wonder material" aerogel? 3 mm fiber can withstand -180℃ extreme cold

What is aerogel? Maybe some people have heard of it, but don't know the magic of it. For example, the most common way to keep us warm in winter is with a down jacket, but only 3mm of aerogel fiber is needed to withstand the extreme cold of -180C, which is several times more.

Now, this magical material aerogel production line has been established in Chongqing, and a series of products will be launched in the global market.

On September 23rd, the first phase of the aerogel industrial base project invested by Zhongke Runzi (Chongqing) Energy Saving Technology Co., Ltd. was put into trial operation in Chongqing Hechuan Industrial Park. The two parties will jointly build an aerogel industrial cluster and an aerogel capital.

It can be flame retardant for lithium batteries and heat insulation

Experts on-site popularization, let us together to "increase knowledge".

Dubbed "solid smoke", the new material is so light that it looks like a curl of blue smoke. This is aerogel, the world's least dense and lightest solid material.

In addition, aerogel is an excellent thermal insulation inorganic material. Aerogel can also "show its strength" in aerospace, military equipment, transportation, building energy conservation, petrochemical industry, battery storage, ship vehicles, precision instruments, environmental protection, refrigerators and cold storage, electric metallurgy, outdoor clothing and tents and other fields.

Aerogel can also be found in lithium batteries. In our daily life, small to button battery and mobile phone, large to new energy vehicles, lithium battery application has been very common. How to improve the safety of lithium battery? Aerogel is out. By attaching a layer of aerogel insulation felt on the inner wall of the battery compartment, when the spark occurs in the battery compartment, it can be effectively delayed and controlled. When there is a fire outside, it can also prevent heat conduction to the inside of the battery compartment, delay the time of battery explosion and fire, and strive for more chances of escape.

Flowers, seafood, fruit... The freshness of these articles is very important. How to meet the long cycle, low energy consumption storage and transportation? While traditional crisper containers are made of polystyrene, aerogel crisper storage is made of a thinner material, saving up to 75 percent of energy and greatly improving its freshness.

The heat preservation mentioned before is also of great use. Aerogel fibers, which can resist extreme cold, are often used in anti-cold clothing and are widely used in scientific expeditions in the Antarctic and climbing Mount Qomolangma. My sister, who loves beauty, will no longer be "beautiful and frozen" if she wears silk stockings made of aerogel fiber in winter.

Break the stranglehold of western countries

In march, CST RunZi technology co., LTD. And chongqing ocean district government signed a cooperation agreement, on investment of 1.2 billion yuan to build aerogel industry base, the construction of annual output of 1200 tons of aerogel powder raw materials, 10 million square meters of aerogel insulation blanket, 1000 tons of aerogel phase change material, 300 tons of aerogels modified polyurea production line, At the same time, the engineering technology center will be completed by the end of 2021.

After six months of hard work, the first phase of the aerogel industrial base went into trial operation on September 23. This is also the first major aerogel industry project in Chongqing to put into operation.

At present, the company has developed more than a dozen categories of products such as aerogel insulation blanket, insulation blanket, insulation diaphragm, aerogel insulation board, aerogel concrete, aerogel glass, aerogel coating, etc. It is widely used in LNG gas refrigeration, fire insulation, shipping, electric power, cold chain logistics, ocean fishing, HVAC, petroleum and petrochemical, lithium battery safety protection, construction materials, special clothing, textile materials, equipment manufacturing, transportation and other industrial fields.

"We break through the key technology of deep development and mass production of aerogel, and break the 'bottleneck' monopoly of western countries in the field of basic raw materials of aerogel." Bai Yuanyu, chairman of Zhongke Runzi (Chongqing) Energy-saving Technology Co., LTD., a subsidiary of Zhongke Runzi Technology Co., LTD., introduced that after the production in Chongqing Hechuan, We will launch a series of products based on aerogel nano thermal insulation material to help industrial upgrading and energy conservation and emission reduction.

Zhongke Runze has built an exhibition hall for the application of aerogel products in Hechuan, displaying different application scenarios of aerogel materials, gradually attracting and gathering industrial resources such as R&D and production, and working with Hechuan to build the whole industrial chain of aerogel industry, such as innovation chain, industrial chain, talent chain, policy chain and capital chain. "Fostering billions of aerogel industrial cluster, construction of aerogel, ocean area is focus on the new material to do a big article", on the relevant person in charge of the district government, said the new material industry is a basic industry, the national economy strategic, will build on the basis of the aerogel industry base construction projects of new material industry cluster, Lead the development of aerogel industry by building the whole industry chain of aerogel.

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These 3 fun experiments will help you understand aerogel in no time

At the scene, technicians also through "burning autumn leaves", "rolling water droplets", "resist extreme cold" three interesting small experiments, watching the video you can "second understand" the role of aerogel.

Fun experiment one: burn autumn leaves

Experimental characteristics: flame retardant heat insulation performance

Technicians use two fresh leaves to show the state of flame in the case of flame retardant aerogel mat and common material protection respectively.

The leaves, protected by the white aerogel mat, did not change under the flame of the alcohol lamp. The leaves remained bright green and showed no signs of discoloration or scorch.

But the leaves on the common material are charred. It can be seen that even delicate green leaves can remain intact and intact under the protection of heat insulation and flame retardant aerogel felt.

Fun experiment two: rolling water drops

* Experimental characteristics: thermal insulation performance and hydrophobic performance

In the experiment, a technician drops water into an iron spoon heated by an alcohol lamp, and the water quickly evaporates.

The water droplets coated with aerogel powder formed a protective film, and there were no obvious signs of evaporation in the iron spoon, indicating that aerogel has good adiabatic hydrophobicity.

Fun experiment three: resist extreme cold

Experimental characteristics: warm and cold

In the video, we can see that before the experiment, the test temperature inside the clothing was 26℃. After the injection of liquid nitrogen at minus 180℃, a thin layer of frost was formed outside the clothing, but the temperature inside the clothing was 29℃, indicating that the aerogel has a good function of cold resistance and heat preservation.