Mechanically Strong Lightweight Porous Materials for Aerospace Applications (X-Aerogels)
- Paper number
IAC-05-C2.7.09
- Author
Dr. Nicholas Leventis, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Glenn Research Center, United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
X-Aerogels is a new class of NASA-developed strong lightweight materials made possible by reacting the mesoporous surfaces of networks of inorganic nanoparticles with polymeric crosslinkers. Since the amounts of the crosslinker and the inorganic backbone are comparable, X-Aerogels can be viewed either as aerogels modified by templated accumulation of polymer on the mesoporous surfaces of the skeletal nanoparticles, or as a nanoporous polymers made by casting a polymeric precursor on a nanostructured inorganic template. The most striking feature of this new NASA material is that for a nominal 3-fold increase in density (still a ultralightweight material), its mechanical strength can be up to 300 times higher than the strength of the underlying native aerogel. Thus, X-Aerogels may combine a ~10x the specific compressive strength of steel, with the thermal conductivity of styrofoam. The X-Aerogel technology has been demonstrated with several different polymers such as polyurethanes/polyureas, epoxies and polyolefins, while crosslinking of ~35 different metal and semimetal oxides from the periodic table have been crosslinked successfully yielding a combination of structural, magnetic and optical properties. X-Aerogels are evaluated for cryogenic rocket fuel storage tanks and for Advanced EVA suits, where they will play the dual role of the thermal insulator and a structural material. Along the same lines, major impact is also expected by the use of X-Aerogels in structural components/thermal protection for small satellites, spacecrafts, planetary vehicles and habitats.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-C2.7.09.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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