Facts About Aerogel - Frozen Smoke

A nearly transparent, very lightweight material that is a dry gel principally made from silica (silicon dioxide) and 96% air. Dubbed a "Super Material", aerogel is the world's lightest solid, weighing as little as three times that of air and exhibiting superb insulating properties. Although aerogel looks like it could float away, it has very high compression strength. Theoretically, a block weighing less than a pound could support a weight of half a ton. Aerogels real strength is its incredible insulating effects on any kind of energy transfer; thermal, electrical or acoustic. Aerogel can damp out almost any kind of energy. A one-inch thick Aerogel window has the same insulation value as 15 panes of glass and trapped air - which means a conventional window would have to be ten-inches thick to equal a one-inch thick aerogel window.

Aerogel tiles are used in space as comet dust collector.