Strong as Air

摘要

One of the most intriguting material innovations to be introduced to buildings in the past decade is aerogel. Originally developed by chemical engineer Samuel Stephens Kistler in the early 20th century, the world's lightest-known solid material-made of about 1 percent quartz and 99 percent air-has been nicknamed "frozen smoke" due to its lightness and translucency. Since 2003, Cabot Corp. has manufactured a pelletized version of aerogel called Nanogel, which is available as translucent insulating fill in skylights and window-wall systems based on its high insulating value and fire resistance. Aerogel is made by replacing the liquid in a gel with a gas in a process called supercritical drying. The slow extraction of liquid leaves the structure of the gel intact, resulting in a material with very little density.