Silica Aerogels
Opportunities
As an institution funded by the U. S. Government, Berkeley Lab actively seeks technology-transfer arrangements that will be mutually beneficial to Berkeley Lab and commercial entities. The following technologies developed by the Microstructured Materials Group are available for direct transfer:
- Methods of producing aerogel-based composite materials via chemical vapor infiltration methods.
- Methods of producing photoluminescent silica aerogel and other aerogels with altered chemical compositions.
- Optical oxygen sensor based on photoluminescent silica aerogel.
For details on how to begin a partnership with Berkeley Lab, visit the Berkeley Lab Technology-Transfer web site.
Commercial Availability
In 1994, the Microstructured Materials Group entered into a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) with Aerojet of Sacramento, California, USA and several other partners. This agreement was supported by an ARPA-TRP grant and focused on development of a pilot-scale aerogel production plant. At the completion of the project in 1995, Aerojet idled this facility and has no current plans to continue in this area.
Other potential U.S. sources of aerogels are Nanopore, in Albuquerque, N.M. which focuses on lower-cost granular aerogels and Aspen Systems, in Marlboro, MA which produces flexible aerogel-based insulation for cryogenic systems.
A new venture, Ocellus, in the San Francisco area, is currently selling small quantities of R-F, carbon and silica aerogels. They are available through MarkeTech International.
In Europe, Airglass in Lund, Sweden has made batch quantities of aerogels for many years, focusing on serving the needs of the high energy physics community.
Cabot Corp produces and sells large quantities of ambiently-dried granular silica aerogels, marketed as Nanogel.
The TASSI company in Ohio is developing various oxide materials for uses such as air purification and catalysis.
