New ceramic insulating foam

2001/05/21 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Ingeniaritza
• Materialak

This material is being produced in small quantities. For this purpose, the scientist Gideon Grader has created the new company Cellaris. He is the director of the group that has developed the insulation grader at the Institute of Technion-Israel Technology in Haifa.

The development of new insulators is a very important field since those used for years are not good for health. For many years the main thermal insulator was asbestos. This material produces various lung diseases, including cancer. Faced with this problem many other ceramic fibers were developed. Ceramic fiber, however, generates needle-shaped dust and these particles can also cause great lung damage.

The material developed by Israeli researchers, despite being ceramic, is used in the form of foam. About 95% is air. Air is a very good thermal insulator, but it is not easily stored in all cases. Therefore, the foam of ceramic material is very effective. In addition, thermal insulation is not the only application that can have this material, since it can act as an acoustic insulator and as a contaminant trap.

This ceramic material is mainly made up of aluminum oxides. They leave small crystals with this metallic component. When heated, the crystals melt and polymer chains are formed. As the heating process advances, the solvent of the mixture is separated from the polymer. If heated more, the solvent evaporates forming thousands of small bubbles, the foam. The structure of this foam is stabilized by the polymer.

Scientists developed the foam in 1998. And the next objective in June of this year will be the preparation of samples for final tests. The tests will be conducted in US and European companies.