Topic: Now this stuff is just too cool

[762]

DM, you seem to know a lot about this stuff.

Is the manufacturing process very expensive? It it something we're likely to see in commercial form any time soon?

[Sethan]

Quote:
I was thinking more along the lines of housing insulation.  

Yeah:

 In the 1980's, Dr. Tsou and others began to work with the material. "It has 14 Guinness Book of World Records-type properties," Dr. Tsou said. "It's the lowest density of any solid, and it has the highest thermoinsulation properties. Though it would be very expensive, you could take a two- or three-bedroom house, insulate it with aerogel, and you could heat the house with a candle. But eventually the house would become too hot."  

...but at a cost of $40 per 1/2 cubic inch, insulating a house is going to be a bit pricey.
 

[762]

I wonder if it is the materials that make it expensive, or the manufacturing process.

If it is the latter I would expect that to be streamlined over time with a corresponding reduction in cost.

[Death_Merchant]

I've worked with it before. It is fun to hold.
It's pretty easy to make in small lots once you know how and have the equipment (I'm not a chemist, but that's what the guy down the hall says...).

The only thing stopping commercial use is: What do you do with it????

House insulation? In crumpled form perhaps, but it would be mucho expensive compared to the benefits gained over standard insulation. Translation->no point

It's used for high-end insulating applications: That's about it.

Shape memory alloys are also a mega-cool thing that have limited applications: Twist some wire into a coil while cool, then warm up -> Voila! It goes back to the original shape! The best use so far has been biomed (heart stints) and eyeglass frames (the: "Wow! How do they bend back" ones)  

[762]

I was thinking as a loofah