Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769

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Energy and Buildings

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Review

Aerogel insulation for building applications: A state-of-the-art review

Ruben Baetens a,b,c , Bjørn Petter Jelle a,c,∗ , Arild Gustavsen d
a
Department of Materials and Structures, SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Høgskoleringen 7B, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway
b
Division of Building Physics, Department of Civil Engineering, K.U. Leuven, BE-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
c
Department of Civil and Transport Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
d
Department of Architectural Design, History and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Aerogels are regarded as one of the most promising high performance thermal insulation materials for
Received 5 October 2010 building applications today. With a thermal conductivity down to 13 mW/(m K) for commercial products
Received in revised form 2 November 2010 they show remarkable characteristics compared to traditional thermal insulation materials. Also the
Accepted 8 December 2010
possibility of high transmittances in the solar spectrum is of high interest for the construction sector.
With the proper knowledge they give both the architect and engineer the opportunity of re-inventing
Keywords:
architectural solutions. Within this work, a review is given on the knowledge of aerogel insulation in
Aerogel
general and for building applications in particular.
High performance thermal insulation
material © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Building application
Review

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762
2. Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762
2.1. Gel preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
2.2. Ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
2.3. Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
2.3.1. Supercritical drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
2.3.2. Ambient pressure drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764
3. Solid properties of silica aerogel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764
3.1. Thermal conductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764
3.2. Optical properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
3.3. Acoustic properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
3.4. Safety aspects and fire behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
4. Building applications of aerogels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766
4.1. Opaque aerogel insulation materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766
4.2. Translucent aerogel insulation materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
5. Other high performance thermal insulation materials and solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
6. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768

∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Materials and Structures, SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Høgskoleringen 7B, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway.
Tel.: +47 73 593377; fax: +47 73 593380.
E-mail address: bjorn.petter.jelle@sintef.no (B.P. Jelle).

0378-7788/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.12.012
762 R. Baetens et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769

1. Introduction

In 2005, buildings emitted 8.3 Gt carbon dioxide each year

accounting for more than 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions
in many developed countries. Residential and commercial retrofit
insulation has been found as one of the most cost effective actions
for greenhouse gas abatement [47]. Herefore, traditional insulation
materials [46] were and are being used in thicker or multiple layers
which result in more complex building details, an adverse net-to-
gross floor area and possible heavier load bearing constructions.
But simultaneously, a second strategy won interest. It became clear
that air as an insulator had reached his limit [22] and that there was a
need to research and develop high performance thermal insulation
materials and solutions (Fig. 1).
Although yet discovered in the early 1930s [40], aerogels are –
together with vacuum insulation panels – one of these new promis-
ing high performance thermal insulation materials for possible
building applications [30,61], but only limited commercial prod-
ucts are available so far [3,12–14]. However, aerogel technologies
is of strategic importance for the 29 G$ global insulation market. Fig. 1. An example of aerogel as a high performance thermal insulation material for
The last five years, the global market for aerogels tripled to 83 M$ building applications (Aspen Aerogels, Inc.).
in 2008 and is expected to reach up to 646 M$ by 2013 [15]. Here,
aerogel manufacturers put the emphasis on cost reduction, devel-
oping new types of aerogels and targeting very large commercial thermal and acoustic insulation materials is currently the main
markets where the overall growth for aerogels is mainly driven by market for aerogels, whereas also a wide range of other applica-
applications as thermal and acoustic insulation [15]. Two examples tions is possible [28,67], e.g. as absorbents, shock absorbers, nuclear
of aerogels for building applications are shown in Fig. 2. waste storage, batteries and catalysts.
In this review, a state-of-the-art is made on the most represen-
tative information on aerogels as a thermal insulation material for 2. Synthesis
building applications. This is carried out in 2 main parts: firstly,
aerogels are discussed in general: how come they have such a Aerogels are dried gels with a very high porosity [30] and were
high thermal quality? And what are their physical properties? The discovered in the early 1930s by Kistler [40]. Silica aerogels are
remarkable properties of aerogels are due to its extraordinary phys- synthesized in a first step by traditional low-temperature sol–gel
ical and chemical structure, which is the result of an advanced and chemistry [53,84], but in contrast to xerogels where wet gels are
complicated production process. Therefore, the production process often dried by evaporation, aerogels are essentially dried often by
of aerogels will be explained first. Secondly, a review is given on supercritical drying. As a result, dried samples keep the porous
current building applications of aerogels. Building applications as texture of the wet stage. In general, aerogels have a high specific

Fig. 2. Translucent aerogel insulation used in a curtain wall at the Sculpture building and gallery of Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut – USA) [77].
 R. Baetens et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769 763

surface area, a very low apparent density and a low refraction index 2.2. Ageing
[20,52,80]. Furthermore, the thermal properties of aerogels may
undertake a structural evolution when aged in a liquid medium The moment a sol reaches the gel point, the polymerizing silica
and/or heat treated during the synthesis process. species span the container containing the sol. However, the silica
The synthesis of (silica) aerogels may be divided in three gen- spine of the gel still contains a significant number of unreacted
eral steps: gel preparation by sol–gel processes, ageing of the gel alkoxide groups. Hydrolysis and condensation may continue and
in its mother solution to prevent the gel to shrink during drying, sufficient time must be given for the strengthening of the silica
and drying of the gel under special conditions to prevent the gel network, enhanced by controlling the pH, concentration and water
structure to collapse. A simplified reaction for silica aerogels, i.e. content of the covering solution [24,25,70].
the most common type of aerogels for insulation purposes, may be During ageing, two different mechanism (might) affect the
presented as [51]: structure of the gel: transport of material to the neck region and
dissolution of small particles into larger ones. Common ageing
Si(OCH3 )4 + 2H2 O ↔ SiO2 + 4CH3 OH (1) procedures typically involves ethanol–siloxane mixtures [25], thus
adding new monomers to the solid SiO network and increasing the
A detailed comprehensive review on the synthesis of silica aero-
degree of cross-linking. The result is a higher stiffness and strength
gels has been written recently by Dorcheh and Abbasi [19] and it
of the resulting gel. This ageing is diffusion controlled: transport of
is referred to this work for a more extensive analysis of aerogel
material is unaffected by convection or mixing due to the solid silica
synthesis and recent developments.
network, while diffusion itself is affected by the thickness of the gel.
As a result, the time required for each processing step increases as
2.1. Gel preparation
the thickness of the gel increases, limiting the practical production
of aerogels.
The sol–gel process is a process in which solid nanoparticles
After ageing the gel, all water still within the pores must be
dispersed in a liquid agglomerate together to form a continuous
removed before drying, which can easily be achieved by washing
three-dimensional network extending throughout the liquid. The
the gel with ethanol and heptanes [25]. Any water left in the gel will
process is extensively described by Brinker and Scherer [8]. Aero-
not be removed by supercritical drying and will lead to an opaque
gels are essentially the solid framework of such a gel isolated from
and very dense aerogel.
its liquid medium. For silica aerogels, nanoparticles are grown
directly in a liquid. 2.3. Drying
The main precursors for silica aerogels are silicon alkoxides.
Tetramethoxysilane Si(OCH3 )4 or TMOS [50], tetraethoxysi- Drying of the gel is the final and most critical step in the pro-
lane Si(OC2 H5 )4 or TEOS [73] and polyethoxydisiloxane duction process of aerogels. Drying is ruled by capillary pressure
SiOn (OC2 H5 )4−2n or PEDS-Px [16] are most often used, where (except for supercritical drying and freeze-drying), causing conse-
PEDS-Px can be obtained by reacting TEOS with a substoichio- quent shrinking and possible fracture due to the small pore sizes
metric quantity of water in an acidic alcoholic medium according and the resulting capillary tension. As a result, two different dry-
to ing processes are most often used: ambient pressure drying (APD),
Si(OC2 H5 )4 + nH2 O ↔ SiOn (OC2 H5 )4−2n + 2nC2 H5 OH (2) were capillary tension cannot be avoided, and supercritical drying
(SCD), where the pore liquid is removed above the critical temper-
for n lower than 2. From the point of view for application as ature Tcr and pressure Pcr to avoid capillary tension.
thermal insulation, the thermal conductivities of PEDS and TMOS
aerogel monoliths will be found lower compared to TEOS aerogel 2.3.1. Supercritical drying
monoliths [81], whereas high-quality transparent aerogels have Supercritical drying (SCD) is the first and most commonly used
been developed [75] based on TEOS. Additional solvents such as method for silica aerogels:
ethanol are needed too much water will yield low-porosity gels.
“Obviously, if one wishes to produce an aerogel, he must replace
Hydrolysis of silicon alkoxides is performed with a catalyst, i.e.
the liquid with air by some means in which the surface of the liq-
mostly acid or base catalysis, or a two-step [79] catalysis. The sol
uid is never permitted to recede within the gel. If a liquid is held
becomes a gel when the solid nanoparticles dispersed in it stick
under pressure always greater than the vapour pressure, and
together to form a network of particles spanning the liquid. This
the temperature is raised, it will be transformed at the critical
requires that the solid nanoparticles in the liquid collide with each
temperature into a gas without two phases having been present
other and stick together. This is easy for some nanoparticles since
at any time.” [42]
they contain reactive surface groups that make them stick together
after colliding by bonding or by electrostatic forces, whereas this Two different SCD methods can be distinguished: high tem-
may require the addition of an additive to make them stick together perature supercritical drying (HTSCD) [42] and low temperature
when colliding by bonding or by electrostatic forces. In general, acid supercritical drying from carbon dioxide (LTSCD) or the Hunt Pro-
hydrolysis and condensation results in linear or weakly branched cess [74]. The method of HTSCD is not relevant for aerogels for
chains and microporous structures in silica sols [38] and the result- building applications, though will be described to give a complete
ing gelation times are generally long. On the opposite, uniform image and allow comparison.
particles are easily formed in base catalysis (i.e. mostly NH4 OH- HTSCD is carried out in three steps: firstly, the aged gel is placed
based) and leads to a broader distribution of larger pores, which is in an autoclave filled half-way with the same solvent held in the
less favourable for thermal insulation materials [66]. gel’s pores. The vessel is then sealed and heated slowly past the
Alkoxides are described in some literature as expensive educts solvent’s critical temperature and pressure (i.e. most-used organic
prohibiting mass production. A solution to the cost of alkoxides solvents have a relatively high Tcr or 300–600 K with a Pcr of
is found in the use of water glass or sodium silicate Na2 SiO3 as a 30–80 atm [45]). Secondly, the fluid is isothermally depressurized.
cheaper raw material for silica [68] which is now used as general Finally, at ambient pressure, the autoclave is cooled to room tem-
precursor for commercial aerogel synthesis for technical applica- perature. In the case of silica aerogels, methanol is most frequently
tions. Here, a silica hydrogel is generated by acidification of the used as solvent for HTSCD. At its critical point (i.e. Tcr = 512.6 K,
aqueous sodium silicate solution with, e.g. HCl or H2 SO4 [31,32]. Pcr = 79.783 atm [45]), methanol can react with OH groups on the
764 R. Baetens et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769

Fig. 3. (Left) The thermal conductivity of air as a function of the air pressure and the average pore diameter of the medium. The small pore size of aerogel reduces the gaseous
conductivity even at the atmospheric pressure of 1000 mbar (redrawn from [65]). (Right) Pore size distribution of silica aerogels prepared from industrial silicon derivative
polyethoxydisiloxanes E-40 (redrawn from [17]).

surface of the gel backbone to form CH3 O groups, which make the structure of SiO2 chains with a large number of air-filled pores.
silica aerogels partially hydrophobic and is the reason why HTSCD These pores of aerogel are very small: pure aerogel has an average
silica aerogels are generally of higher quality. Furthermore, HTSCD pore diameter between 10 and 100 nm [85], but silica aerogels in
has been found the best way to minimize shrinkage of the gel. general will have pore sizes between 5 and 70 nm, depending on
For each possible solvent, drying pressures are known for which the purity and the fabrication method (see Fig. 3) [10] which will
shrinkage of the aerogels stays below 5% [39]. take from 85 up to 99.8% of the total aerogel volume.
The process of LTSCD [74] is similar to that of HTSCD and is Due to its extraordinary small pore sizes and high porosity,
also carried out in three steps: firstly, the aged gel is placed in the aerogel achieves its remarkable physical, thermal, optical and
an autoclave, but now filled with the saver, non-flammable liquid acoustical properties, while on the other hand this also results in a
carbon dioxide (i.e. Tcr = 304.2 K, Pcr = 72.786 atm [45]) at 4–10 ◦ C very low mechanical strength. The high porosity makes aerogels the
until 100 bar to replace the solvent in the pores of the gel. When lightest solid material known at the moment. It has a skeleton den-
all solvents are replaced, the autoclave is heated to 313 K while sity of approximately 2200 kg/m3 , but the high porosity can result
maintaining 100 bar. Secondly, the fluid is isothermally depres- in a bulk density as low as 3 kg/m3 , e.g. compare with the density of
surized. Finally, at ambient pressure, the autoclave is cooled to air of approximately 1.2 kg/m3 [29]. Current aerogels for building
room temperature. Also aerogels dried by LTSCD show shrinkage applications have an overall density of 70–150 kg/m3 .
but, compared to HTSCD, not caused by the SCD process but by Silica aerogels are also load bearing with a high compression
replacement of the original solvent with liquid carbon dioxide. strength up to 3 bar, but they have a very low tensile strength
making the material very fragile. If not well hydrophobised, con-
2.3.2. Ambient pressure drying tact with water could demolish an aerogel structure because of
Ambient pressure drying (APD) is of most interest to lower the the surface tension in the pores [33]. In this case, aerogel is often
costs compared to the expensive drying processes of HTSCD or used in combination with a vacuum, where the envelope prevents
LTSCD. APD is generally carried out in two steps: firstly, silylation of water inclusion and the vacuum reduces the thermal conductiv-
all OH groups must take place for preventing adsorption of water ity furthermore. However, the weak tensile properties are solved
resulting by formation of a hydrophobic aerogels. This is carried for commercial aerogel insulation materials by incorporating it in
out by replacing the present solvent with a water-free solvent and a fibre matrix.
a silylating agent (e.g. hexamethyldisilazane HMDS) [44], resulting
in a replacement of H from OH groups by an alkyl such as CH3 . Sec-
3.1. Thermal conductivity
ondly, drying is carried out by ambient pressure evaporation [11]
and consists of three steps: after a warming period, the first drying
Aerogels have a very low thermal conductivity tot (W/(m K))
period occurs where the volume loss of the gel balances those of the
[41], resulting from as well a low solid skeleton conductivity, a low
evaporated liquid as free water moves continuously to the external
gaseous conductivity g and a low radiative infrared transmission
surface by capillary forces. In the second drying period or falling rate
TIR [54]. However, an attempt to come to an overall thermal conduc-
period, diffusive vapour transport will dominate allowing liquid to
tivity by summing all factors may be difficult, because the modes
escape slowly to the exterior.
are strongly coupled, e.g. a change in the infrared absorbance will
also result in a change of the solid skeleton conductivity.
3. Solid properties of silica aerogel The intrinsic solid thermal conductivity s of dense silica is rel-
atively high, but silica aerogels have only a small fraction of solid
The high potential of silica aerogels is due to their unusual solid silica. Furthermore, the inner skeleton structure has many ‘dead-
material properties. Silica aerogels consist of a cross-linked internal ends’ resulting in an ineffective and long tortuous path of thermal
 R. Baetens et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769 765

additional component such as carbon black to the aerogel, i.e.

before or after the critical drying, that either absorbs or scatters
infrared radiation. In this way, the overall thermal conductivity at
ambient pressure can be decreased to a value of 13.5 mW/(m K) at
ambient pressure and to 4 mW/(m K) at a pressure of 50 mbar or
less, whereas state-of-the-art commercially available aerogel insu-
lation for building purposes has a thermal conductivity between
13.1 and 13.6 mW/(m K) at ambient temperature [1] and very little
affected up till a temperature of 200 ◦ C.

3.2. Optical properties

Silica aerogels have interesting optical properties. In Fig. 4, one

can notice the high transmittance of radiation within the range
of visible light (i.e. radiation with a wavelength between 380
and 780 nm). Monolith translucent silica aerogel in a 10 mm thick
packed bed has a solar transmittance TSOL of 0.88 [58]. Heat treat-
ment of the aerogels can increase their transparency further, i.e.
currently by up to 6% [33], because of water desorption and burn-
ing of organic components. The optical properties can be influenced
furthermore by parameters of the sol–gel process, i.e. by selecting
Fig. 4. The transmittance of a silica aerogel in the ultraviolet, visible and near
optimal synthesis parameters [54].
infrared spectrum (top) and the infrared spectrum (bottom) showing IR-bans of
alcohol at 3200–3600 cm−1 , of carbonyl at 1690–1760 cm−1 and of carboxyl between Light reflected by (silica) aerogels appears bluish and transmit-
1080 and 1300 cm−1 (redrawn from [54]). ted light appears slightly reddened. This scattering of the light can
be explained by bulk- or Rayleigh scattering and by exterior sur-
transport. A typical minimum does exist in the thermal conductiv- face scattering. Rayleigh scattering is caused by the interaction with
ity’s dependence on density for aerogels: with a density below this inhomogeneities in solids, liquids or gases such as dust particles
optimum, the pore diameter increases followed by an increase of in the atmosphere, and becomes more effective when the size of
g (see Eqs. (2) and (3)) [27], whereas (ideally) a low mass density the particles is similar to the wavelength of the incident light. The
may also be envisioned with small pores. presence of a certain number of pores within this range in aerogels
The low gaseous thermal conductivity g of aerogels in general can act as so-called ‘scattering centres’. The efficiency of scattering
can be explained by the Knudsen effect, expressing the gaseous will depend on the size of the scattering centres, while different
conduction in a porous media as function of the air pressure and wavelengths of radiation will scatter with different magnitudes.
the characteristic pore size [37] (see also Fig. 3.): Silica aerogels can also have a high transparency in the infrared
spectrum, i.e. a TIR of 0.85. This transparency increases the overall
g,0 thermal conductivity of silica aerogels, especially at higher tem-
g = (3)
1 + 2ˇKn peratures. If transparency is not desired, the direct-hemispherical
transmission in the visible range can be strongly reduced with up to
where
50% by adding only a few vol% isopropanol [56] or other opacifiers
lmean kB T to the aerogel.
Kn = and lmean = √ (4)
ı 2dg2 Pg

where Kn is the Knudsen number, i.e. the ratio between the mean 3.3. Acoustic properties
free path lmean of air molecules and the characteristic size of pores ı
(e.g. pore diameter), where dg is the diameter of the gas molecules, Monolith silica aerogels have a lower speed of sound than air.
kB the Boltzmann constant, T the temperature, Pg the gas pressure Sound velocities down to 40m/s have been measured [21], whereas
and ˇ a constant between 1.5 and 2.0 characterising the efficiency (non-monolith) commercial products claim to have a sound veloc-
of energy transfer when gas molecules hit the solid structure of the ity of ∼100 m/s through the structure [4]. Granular aerogels are
material. The constant ˇ depends on the gas type, the solid material exceptional reflectors of audible sound, making excellent barrier
and the temperature. materials [18,23]. By combining multiple layers with different gran-
Silica aerogels have both an intrinsic low characteristic pore ular sizes, average attenuations of −60 dB has been found for a total
size ı and a very high porosity. As a result, the gaseous thermal thickness of only 7 cm [60].
conductivity will have large influence on the overall thermal con-
ductivity of aerogels, but will at the same time be strongly reduced 3.4. Safety aspects and fire behaviour
at ambient pressure due to the Knudsen effect. The gaseous thermal
conductivity can be further reduced (i) by filling the aerogel with a Aerogel insulation sheets suffer from dust production. As most
low-conductive gas (e.g. noble gases), (ii) by decreasing the maxi- of the commercial aerogel insulation products consist of com-
mum pore size or (iii) by applying a vacuum on the aerogel. Hereby, plete amorphous (and thus 0% crystalline) silica, exposure limits
an overall thermal conductivity of 8 mW/(m K) can be reached for in the range of 5 mg/m3 for respirable dust count in the US OSHA.
silica aerogels by applying a pressure of 50 mbar or less, if no further However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
attempts are made to decrease the radiation transfer [29,69,83]. considers synthetic amorphous silica to be not classifiable as to
Silica aerogels are reasonable transparent in the infrared spec- its carcinogenicity to humans (i.e. group 3). No evidence of silicosis
trum (see Fig. 4). The radiative transfer will become a dominant has been found from epidemiological studies of workers with long-
factor of the thermal conductivity at high temperatures, i.e. above term exposure to synthetic silica, whereas studies of various animal
200 ◦ C, but will represent no problem at low temperatures. Fur- species show that amorphous silica can be completely cleared from
thermore, the radiative transfer can be suppressed by adding an the lungs [48,82].
766 R. Baetens et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769

Fig. 5. Two examples of translucent aerogel insulation as a high performance thermal insulation solution for daylighting [35].

Monolith silica aerogels consists of SiO2 with a −CH3 treated applied over large areas in new buildings for daylighting purposes
surface for hydrophobisation. They are generally non-flammable are depicted in Fig. 5 [35]. Aerogel insulation applied as retrofitting
and non-reactive. Also commercial products containing silica aero- of an old brick building is shown in Fig. 6, which in another example
gels are considered to have the same properties [71]. Even more, also shows a timber wall with aerogel insulated studs (top floor),
aerogel insulation is used as fire-protecting material [1,55] where demonstrating by infrared thermography the thermal bridge dif-
the PET fibres generally used for reinforcement are replaced [2]. ferences to the non-aerogel insulated studs (ground floor) in the
same building (Fig. 6 [right]).

4. Building applications of aerogels

4.1. Opaque aerogel insulation materials
Silica aerogels are an innovative alternative to traditional insu-
lation due to their high thermal performance, although the costs of Currently, an aerogel based insulation material is developed
the material remain high for cost-sensitive industries such as the called Spaceloft® by Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (Northborough, MA, US)
building industry. Research is continuing to improve the insulation [71]. Spaceloft® is a flexible aerogel blanket currently avail-
performance and lowering the production costs of aerogels. able in thicknesses of 10 mm and has a thermal conductivity of
Presently, two different groups of building applications can be 13.1 mW/(m K) at 273 K, 2–2.5 times lower than traditional thermal
noticed for aerogel insulation: (i) Insulation materials which only insulation materials. Interesting is also the preparation procedure
use the high thermal performance of silica aerogels and (ii) granular for the aerogel in [18]. Whereas monolith silica aerogels are very
aerogel-based translucent insulation materials or (iii) transparent fragile, Aspen aerogel insulation products are textile-like blankets.
monolithic aerogel. Two examples of translucent aerogel insulation The aerogel composite may be prepared by adding fibres or a fibrous

Fig. 6. (Left) Aspen aerogel insulation for retrofitting of an old brick dwelling and (right) a thermographic image of a timber wall where the studs of the top floor are insulated
with a thin layer of aerogel insulation whereas the ground floor is not [3].
 R. Baetens et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769 767

Fig. 7. Cross-section through the granular aerogel based glazing, consisting of two glass panels with a low-e coating on the inside, two gaps and an aerogel-filled PMMA
double-skin-sheet (left) [59] and cross-section of the monolithic aerogel based evacuated glazing (right) [33].

matrix to a pre-gel mixture containing gel precursors, whereafter iii. An evacuated solar collector has been proposed, stacking a heat
the gel can be dried. The product may be used to reduce the ther- exchanger between a layer of aerogel and a layer of fumed silica
mal bridges due to studs in wood-frame or steel-frame building and two glass panes.
envelopes [43]. The current cost the product is in the range of
25 D /m2 or 4000 $/m3 (November 2008), whereas the material cost A monolithic aerogel-based window was developed by the
of a conventional insulation material is about 10 times lower for HILIT+ project of the European Union (Fig. 7 [right]) [33]. This win-
the same thermal resistance. Nevertheless, wherever space is an dow is developed in combination with the technology of vacuum
important topic, aerogel may be an option to be considered. glazing by applying a pressure between 1 and 10 mbar. An overall
The aerogel insulation material consists of amorphous silica heat loss coefficient Uwindow of 0.66 W/(m2 K) and a TSOL of more
instead of crystalline silica, reducing possible health risks at expo- than 0.85 were measured for an evacuated glazing with 13.5 mm
sure. thick aerogel, while the noise reduction of the glazing was mea-
Another aerogel-based insulation material is developed for pipe sured to be 33 dB [34]. Increasing the aerogel thickness to 20.0 mm
insulation called Nanogel® Compression PackTM by Cabot Aerogel will lower the U-value further more to approximately 0.5 W/(m2 K),
(Massachusettes, USA) [12] with a thermal conductivity ‘half the while the solar transmittance will still stay above 0.75 [64]. Sim-
value of that from polyurethane’ or 14 mW/(m K). The product can ulations have been done on the window based on Danish climate
be ‘activated’ whereafter it will expand to fill all gaps. The product conditions, and an energy saving of 19 and 34% respectively for
is at the moment only available for pipe insulation and delivered as 13.5 and 20 mm have been found replacing triple glazed argon-
a normal flat blanket, while no performance durability over time is filled glazing for a house built according to the Danish standard
assured by the manufacturer. and for a house insulated to the passive house standard. How-
ever, scattering becomes strongly visible if the aerogel window is
4.2. Translucent aerogel insulation materials exposed to direct sunlight, making the present quality of aerogel
most suitable for north face windows and for daylight components
Aerogel is especially very interesting as a translucent or trans- in general.
parent insulation material [36,83] because of its combination of a At the present, two commercial types of such aerogel-based
low thermal conductivity and a high transmittance of daylight and daylight systems, i.e. Scoba-lit and Okagel windows, are devel-
solar energy. Within this purpose, research has been conducted in oped and manufactured by Okalux, resp Scobalit where-fore the
the last decade on the development of highly insulating windows aerogel is produced by Cabot Aerogel under the name NanogelTM
based on granular aerogel and monolithic aerogel, e.g. [63,64]. and Okagel® [13,14]. The aerogel product has a thermal con-
A granular aerogel based window was developed by ZAE Bayern ductivity of 18 mW/(m K) and the fabricator offers skylights with
(Germany) [57–59,83]. Here, two types of granular aerogel are used a heat transmittance coefficient between 0.6 and 0.3 W/(m2 K)
in prototype windows: semi transparent spheres with a solar trans- for layers of 30 and 60 mm Okagel® respectively. The visi-
mittance TSOL of 0.53 for a 10 mm packed bed and highly translucent ble light transmission TVIS is 0.40 and the sound reduction is
granulates with a TSOL of 0.88. This granular aerogel is stacked in a 52 dB.
16 mm wide polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) double skin-sheet,
between two gaps (i.e. of either 12 or 16 mm in width and respec-
5. Other high performance thermal insulation materials
tively filled with krypton or argon) and glass panes (see Fig. 7 [left]).
and solutions
Based on this principle, three different high performance thermal
insulation solutions have been developed:
Other state-of-the-art high performance thermal insulation
materials or solutions do exist. In principle close to aerogels, is
i. A daylighting system was developed by applying two low-e the technology of vacuum insulated panels (VIPs) [5,9,65] among
coatings with an emissivity ε of 0.08 onto the glass panes. others. Such VIPs apply a vacuum to a material, i.e. mainly fumed
A visual directional-hemispherical transmittance TVIS between silica, in order to drastically reduce the gaseous thermal conductiv-
0.24 and 0.54 and a total TSOL between 0.33 and 0.45 were ity. Although an air-tight metal or metallized (thus highly thermal
achieved, while the complete system had an U-value between conducting) envelope is necessary to maintain the applied vacuum,
0.44 and 0.56 W/(m2 K). centre-of-panel thermal conductivities of 4 mW/(m K) [78] are
ii. A sun protecting system was developed by applying two low- achieved for VIPs in pristine conditions. Envelope-related aspects as
e coatings with an ε of 0.03 onto the glass panes. Here, a TVIS well as ageing raises the overall thermal conductivity to a range of
between 0.19 and 0.38 and a TSOL between 0.17 and 0.23 were 7–10 mW/(m K) [5,7]. Compared to aerogels, VIPs have advantages
obtained, while the complete system had a U-value between and disadvantages for possible building applications. In general,
0.37 and 0.47 W/(m2 K). VIPs obtain a much lower thermal conductivity and as a result
768 R. Baetens et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 761–769

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