At the New Material Science and Technology City Industry-University-Research Summit, a professor from Central South University demonstrated a magical material-aerogel to the participants. This material is so light that it can be placed on a flower, but at the same time it can bear a weight that is 4000 times heavier than itself. It can be burned on a flame or sprayed with liquid nitrogen, as if it has an indestructible body.

Aerogels were made by a bet of two American researchers in 1931. It is a nano material, the main component is silicon dioxide, and the melting point is above 1300°C. In the long-term use environment, the melting point can also reach above 600°C, and it has fire-retardant properties. Since aerogel generally contains 80% of air, it has a very good thermal insulation effect. An inch thick aerogel is equivalent to the thermal insulation function of 20 to 30 ordinary glass. In addition, it can also reduce noise, absorb energy, etc. Based on these characteristics, aerogel has 13 world records in the field of new materials.

Initially, aerogels were mainly used in high-end fields such as aerospace, national defense and military industry, and nuclear industry. After entering the 21st century, due to the reduction of production costs, aerogels began to be applied to civilian fields. "Aerogel has a very wide range of applications. It can be used for high-speed rail lightweighting, environmental management, drug carriers, etc. If it is used in the clothing field, then we only need to wear a 3 mm thick aerogel cloth in winter. That's it."

The professor of Central South University focused on the application of aerogel in the field of construction. He said that by sandwiching a piece of aerogel with two pieces of glass, this "sandwich structure" of aerogel glass can improve building performance without gaining weight or thickening. "Aerogel glass has fire-proof and energy-absorbing properties, which can improve the current problems of glass explosion, wind resistance and pressure difference, and improve the safety level of the building; the thermal insulation function of aerogel glass can make the building'warm in winter' Cool in summer, improve indoor comfort. In addition, by combining with other technologies, aerogel glass can also change color and generate photovoltaic power to achieve personalized construction of buildings.