A review article on the synthesis of Silica Aerogels and their Insulation Properties

Abstract

Aerogels are nano-porous structured materials that are obtained from wet gels after employing
various drying techniques to exchange their liquid portion by air while retaining the solid
skeleton. Owing to their lightweight, excellent porosity, and high thermal resistance,
aerogels find applications in various fields such as space technology for thermal insulation
and as dielectric material in electrical components. Currently, the aerogel market is driven
almost entirely due to their outstanding insulation properties while their use in domains
like electrical, acoustics & optics is also being researched broadly. This paper highlights
and summarizes the recent research work on insulation applications of silica aerogels.
A thorough introduction to Silica aerogels is presented followed by an introduction to
thermal insulation, methods to measure thermal insulation, various insulation materials,
their thermal characteristics, and silica aerogel as insulation material. The insulation
properties of silica aerogel are compared with other conventional materials. This work identifies
the advancement & importance of the use of silica aerogels as insulation material to avoid energy
loss and pave our way toward achieving sustainability.