Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
(NTU Singapore) has developed a new material that will make vehicles and
buildings cooler and quieter compared to current insulation materials
in the market.
Known as aerogel composites, this new foam insulates against heat 2.6 times better than conventional insulation foam.
When compared to traditional materials used in soundproofing, it can block out 80 per cent of outside noise, 30 per cent more than the usual ones.
Made from silica aerogels with a few other additives, this new material is now ready for commercialisation and is expected to hit the market early next year. The promising product has the potential to be used in a wide range of applications, including in building and construction, oil and gas and the automotive industry.
The aerogel composites took NTU Assoc Prof Sunil Chandrankant Joshi and his then-PhD student, Dr Mahesh Sachithanadam, four years to develop. The technology had been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and a patent has been filed by NTU's innovation and enterprise arm NTUitive.
A local company, Bronx Creative & Design Center Pte Ltd (BDC), has licensed this aerogel composites technology with a joint venture of S$7 million (USD$5.2 million), and a production plant that will be operational by 2017.
It will produce the aerogel composites in various forms such as sheets or panels, in line with current industry sizes.
Apart from being a good thermal and acoustic insulator, it is also non-flammable -- a crucial factor for materials used in high heat environments common in the oil and gas industries.
It is also resilient and can withstand high compression or heavy loads. A small 10cm by 10cm piece of the aerogel composite material weighing just 15 grams can take up to 300 kilogrammes of weight, maintaining its shape without being flattene
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