Research
Researchers designed a stiff new solid that keeps heat from escaping better than soft foams and aerogels
Earth.com · By Eric Ralls ·
The Brief
- Engineers and chemists designed a stiff solid crystal film with no air pockets.
- The material is reported to block heat better than soft foams and aerogels, which rely on trapped air.
- The source is a single Earth.com article; the excerpt provided is truncated.
Why it matters
It suggests a route to insulating materials that combine high thermal resistance with mechanical stiffness, which foams and aerogels struggle to offer together.
Who’s affected
- materials scientists and engineers working on thermal insulation
- building, aerospace and electronics designers who need stiff insulators
- #insulation
- #thermal conductivity
- #materials science
- #crystal films
- #aerogels
The best heat blockers are mostly made of air. Inside foam, it sits trapped in tiny pockets, which is why foam insulates so well and also why it squashes so easily. Now, engineers and chemists have made a solid crystal film that is stiff and has no air pockets at all. It blocks…
Timeline
Earth.com reports on the stiff solid insulator
Earth.com
Researchers designed a stiff new solid that keeps heat from escaping better than soft foams and aerogels