Iranian Company Uses Nanotechnology to Produce Aerogel Blanket
‘Pakan Atieh Nanodanesh’ company used nanostructures to produce aerogel blanket made of a silica matrix on a flexible substrate through which the mechanical shortcoming of the mesoporous structure is alleviated.
The nanostructuring can create satisfactory dimensional stability, high specific surface area and porosity, comparatively low relative density and thermal conductivity, high transparency, and extremely low dielectric constant.
The silica aerogel blankets can be utilized as thermal insulator in semi-transparent glass and ceiling, catalysts owing to their high specific surface area, hydrophobic characteristic, thermal insulator in the aerospace industry, transportation, industrial equipment and power generation and fire-resistant components.
Earlier in June, researchers at Tehran-based Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT) had also produced graphene aerogels for industrial uses, which according to them, the synthetic material is very light and can be used as a lubricant in cooling down oil equipment.
Graphene aerogels are synthetic materials with low density and high porosity. Its synthesis involves the reducing precursor graphene oxide solution to get graphene hydrogel. Freeze-drying is then used to remove the solvent and to replace it with air.
“Graphene sheets have been used to produce a very light 3D graphene foams, a material that is 99% air and the remaining 1% is made of carbon, which is lighter than the components of air, i.e. oxygen and nitrogen,” Malek Naderi, a professor at the AUT Faculty of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy said about the material.
Emphasizing that the material is lighter than air and is porous, he also said, “These characteristics have led to its different applications in the industry. We have been working on making this material since 2017 and since 2019 its production has reached reproducibility level in our laboratory. With the help of graphene aerogel, we have been able to produce various types of composites for industrial use.”
He furthr pointed to the industrial usages of the product and said, “This material can be used in various industries. We have tested it in different industry. In the mining sector, this material is used as a substitute for carbon black for gold extraction and has successfully passed industrial tests in one of the country's mines. The substance has been industrially examined in making some airplanes parts, in the meantime, positive results have been achieved in the field of absorption of pollutants in the oil sector.”
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