Aerogels are a class of special materials that have a wide variety of excellent properties, including mechanical, physical and chemical properties, and therefore the applications of aerogels have been widely developed. In addition to buildings, coatings, and environmental remediation, aerogels are also used in other fields, such as biomedical engineering, energy, and sensors. In the future, aerogels are expected to be applied in more fields to promote scientific and technological progress and improve the quality of human life.
Major Applications of Aerogels in Other Fields
- Aerogels for biomedical engineering
In recent years, aerogels have attracted the attention of many scientists and are widely used in biomedical engineering. Major applications of aerogels in biomedical engineering include tissue engineering, implantable medical devices, drug and protein delivery, bone grafting, and blood sorption. Osorio et al[1]. modified cellulose nanocrystal aerogels and used them as viable bone tissue scaffolds. The results demonstrated that the aerogels were porous and flexible, and could promote bone growth after their implant in bone defects.
Aerogels have the advantages of biodegradability and low density that make them a good choice for solving serious energy problems. Researchers have proposed and developed many techniques to produce green and sustainable aerogel-based electrodes, which provide a solution to pollution and other environmental concerns. The role of aerogels in energy applications, especially supercapacitors and batteries, has been increasing day by day. Long et al[2]. introduced a novel method to prepare N-doped carbon aerogels for supercapacitors, where they demonstrated excellent thermal and mechanical properties.
Aerogels or aerogel composites have strong mechanical strength, excellent flexibility, high porosity, lightweight and excellent durability. These properties fulfill the requirements for manufacturing various types of sensors such as gas sensors, electrochemical sensors, humidity sensors, pressure sensors, flexible sensors, and tactile sensors. Aerogel-based sensors have two advantages: firstly, high specific surface area and surface-to-volume ratio provide sufficient surfaces for the adsorption of gas molecules; secondly, a 3D porous interconnected structural network provides a stable and fast transport channel for the diffusion of gas molecules. Thus, they demonstrate a fast recovery rate, low detection limit, high sensitivity, and fast response rate. Table 1 shows some recent work on aerogel-based gas sensors[3].
Table 1. Aerogel-based sensors and their performance.
What Can We Do?
Alfa Chemistry is an expert in aerogels, familiar with the application and mechanism of aerogels in biomedical engineering, energy, and sensors. If you have questions related the applications of aerogels in these fields, please contact us. We will be happy to provide you with the products, technologies and advice you need.
References
- Osorio, D.A.; et al. Cross-linked cellulose nanocrystal aerogels as viable bone tissue scaffolds. Acta Biomaterialia. 2019, 87: 152-165.
- Long, S.; et al. Biomass-derived, multifunctional and wave-layered carbon aerogels toward wearable pressure sensors, supercapacitors and triboelectric nanogenerators. Nano Energy. 2021, 85: 105973.
- Noman, M.T.; et al. Aerogels for biomedical, energy and sensing applications. Gels. 2021, 7: 264.
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