Utrecht University to conduct sustainability assessment of aerogels
Utrecht University is part of new Horizon2020-funded COST Action project aeroGels: Advanced Engineering and Research of aeroGels for Environment and Life Sciences. AeroGels will assess the full potential of this special class of nanostructured mesoporous materials, with Utrecht researcher Li Shen responsible for the sustainability assessment.
Aerogel is a synthetic porous ultralight material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component for the gel has been replaced with a gas. The result is a solid with extremely low density and low thermal conductivity. Nicknames include frozen smoke, solid smoke, solid air, solid cloud, blue smoke owing to its translucent nature and the way light scatters in the material.
Full potential of aerogels still to be assessed
The full potential of these special class of nanostructured mesoporous materials is still to be assessed for various applications. AeroGels will explore their use in the context of environmental and life sciences applications.
Copernicus Institute researchers to conduct sustainability assessment
AERoGELS brings together the knowledge on research and technology of aerogels at the European level from academia, industry and regulatory experts. Li Shen from Energy and Resources Group of the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University will contribute to the sustainability assessment of aerogel materials, taking a key role in WP5 as well as being a member the management committee.
The long-term scope is to develop an aerogel technology able to improve the welfare of European people and to move towards cleaner and smarter production in Europe.