Chinese researchers fabricated a unique ceramic aerogel that can withstand extreme mechanical stresses and temperatures, while maintaining its flexibility and thermal insulation capabilities.
Aerogels, composed mostly of air, are outstanding thermal insulators but are also rather brittle.
Investigators from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics developed a substance that can be twisted, compressed almost flat, exposed to liquid nitrogen, and heated up to 1500 degrees Celsius without breaking. New Science involved scientists from the Power Engineering and Electrical Engineering department of Tomsk Polytechnic University’s Energy School, Changchun University (China), and Jilin University (China).
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