Aerographite takes title of world's lightest material

[ScienceRocks]

Aerographite takes title of world's lightest material
Manufacturing Digital ^ | 13 Jul 2012 | Jonny Williamson
Aerographite takes title of world

Collaboration between the Technical University of Hamburg and the University of Kiel in Germany has resulted in the world's lightest solid material being created, aerographite



It wasn’t so long ago that a metallic micro-lattice developed by HRL Laboratories, the California Institute of Technology and the University of California held the honour of being the world’s lightest material. Formed from a multitude of hollow tubes, each 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, researchers claimed the material could be utilised in battery electrodes or as way of dampening acoustics, shock and vibration.

The micro-lattice was not only strong, but incredibly light, almost 100 times lighter than Styrofoam, yet unbelievably aerographite is 100 percent lighter again, weighing less than 200 times that of Styrofoam.

Similar in construction, aerographite is made predominantly from a structure of hollow carbon tubes, grown at a nano and micro scale and is 99.9 percent air. Under an electron microscope the material resembles a wisp of smoke, but to the naked eye is more similar to a black sponge.



Discovered by the scientists when researching three-dimensionally cross-linked carbon structures, aerographite is grown using zinc oxide templates allowing the creation of shapes up to several cubic centimetres in size.

Though mostly air, the material can not only be compressed by a factor of 1,000 and still spring back to its original shape, but can also support many times its own weight. Amazingly the material is also electrically conducive and chemically-resistant; with researchers indicating that aerographite could be either used as electrical shielding, help create an ultra-lightweight battery or be used elsewhere in MEMS (micro-electromechancial systems).

The team’s research has been published in the online journal Advanced Materials.

 

[LAfrique]

Aerographite takes title of world's lightest material
Manufacturing Digital ^ | 13 Jul 2012 | Jonny Williamson
Aerographite takes title of world

Collaboration between the Technical University of Hamburg and the University of Kiel in Germany has resulted in the world's lightest solid material being created, aerographite



It wasn’t so long ago that a metallic micro-lattice developed by HRL Laboratories, the California Institute of Technology and the University of California held the honour of being the world’s lightest material. Formed from a multitude of hollow tubes, each 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, researchers claimed the material could be utilised in battery electrodes or as way of dampening acoustics, shock and vibration.

The micro-lattice was not only strong, but incredibly light, almost 100 times lighter than Styrofoam, yet unbelievably aerographite is 100 percent lighter again, weighing less than 200 times that of Styrofoam.

Similar in construction, aerographite is made predominantly from a structure of hollow carbon tubes, grown at a nano and micro scale and is 99.9 percent air. Under an electron microscope the material resembles a wisp of smoke, but to the naked eye is more similar to a black sponge.



Discovered by the scientists when researching three-dimensionally cross-linked carbon structures, aerographite is grown using zinc oxide templates allowing the creation of shapes up to several cubic centimetres in size.

Though mostly air, the material can not only be compressed by a factor of 1,000 and still spring back to its original shape, but can also support many times its own weight. Amazingly the material is also electrically conducive and chemically-resistant; with researchers indicating that aerographite could be either used as electrical shielding, help create an ultra-lightweight battery or be used elsewhere in MEMS (micro-electromechancial systems).

The team’s research has been published in the online journal Advanced Materials.

You just reminded me of a dream I had few days ago: Dreamt I manufactured plane-like wings that when attached to human hands enabled the human to fly to wherever. Funny enough, several entities thought my invention was about to put an end to their business and they made several attempts to shoot down my wings. About twice, they shot through my wings, but the material was so light-weighted and so easily malleable that it bounced right back to its flawless shape and state, as if nothing had gone through it.

(Laughs) You think my innovation came from this material?

 

[ScienceRocks]

Maybe


Here is some more news on it...

New space-age insulating material for homes, clothing and other everyday uses (w/ Video)

August 20, 2012
A major improvement in the world's lightest solid material and best solid insulating material, described here today, may put more of this space-age wonder into insulated clothing, refrigerators with thinner walls that hold more food, building insulation and other products.

The report, on development of a new flexible "aerogel" ― stuff so light it has been called "solid smoke" ― was part of the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. More than 14,000 scientists and others are in the City of Brotherly Love for the event, which features 8,600 reports on new development in science and other topics.

Mary Ann B. Meador, Ph.D., explained that traditional aerogels, developed decades ago and made from silica, found in beach sand, are brittle, and break and crumble easily. Scientists have improved the strength of aerogels over the years, and Meador described one of these muscled-up materials developed with colleagues at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. "The new aerogels are up to 500 times stronger than their silica counterparts," Meador said. "A thick piece actually can support the weight of a car. And they can be produced in a thin form, a film so flexible that a wide variety of commercial and industrial uses are possible." Flexible aerogels, for instance, could be used in a new genre of super-insulating clothing that keeps people warm in the cold with less bulk than traditional "thermal" garments. Tents and sleeping bags would have the same advantages. Home refrigerator and freezer walls insulated with other forms of the material would shrink in thickness, increasing storage capacity.

Meador said that the aerogel is 5-10 times more efficient than existing insulation, with a quarter-inch-thick sheet providing as much insulation as 3 inches of fiberglass. And there could be multiple applications in thin-but-high-efficiency insulation for buildings, pipes, water heater tanks and other devices. NASA envisions one use in an advanced re-entry system for spacecraft returning to Earth from the International Space Station, and perhaps other missions. Re-entry vehicles need a heat shield that keeps them from burning up due to frictional heating from Earth's atmosphere. Those shields can be bulky and heavy. So NASA is exploring use of a heat shield made from flexible aerogel that inflates like a balloon when spacecraft enter the atmosphere. Meador said the material also could be used to insulate spacesuits. However, it likely would not be good for firefighting clothing products, which require protection beyond the 575 degrees Fahrenheit limits of the aerogel.

Read more at: ]New space-age insulating material for homes, clothing and other everyday uses (w/ Video)

 

[Mr. H.]

Solid smoke. That term rings a bell. I think I've read about this but it was years ago.
Science is groovy stuff.