Chinese university invents world's lightest material

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2013-03-21

The aerogel produced by Chinese scientists is so light that it can be placed
on a flower. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese scientists have successful developed an aerogel that they claim is the lightest material in the world. The density of the gel is only one sixth of air at 0.16 milligrams per cubic centimeter, 0.04 milligrams lighter than aerographite, a substance produced by German scientists last year which hitherto held the record.

Scientists led by professor Gao Chao from the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University, produced the aerogel by freezing graphene with a carbon nanotube, removing their liquid components and keeping only their structures, according to Chinese science website Science and Technology Daily.

The aerogel is so light that a mug made of the material would be able to perch on a green foxtail and would not bend a hair of the plant, said professor Gao.

It is also exceptionally strong and is able to recover its original form after being compressed up to 80% over a thousand times. It can absorb oil 250-900x its volume. Existing oil absorbers can only take in up to 10x their volume.

Professor Gao said that the material could be used to soak up oil leaks in the world's oceans. Once the aerogel is soaked with the oil, people can squeeze the oil out and reuse the aerogel, according to the Chinese-language Dushi Kuaibao, published by the local Hangzhou Daily.

The material has multiple uses such as thermal insulation, catalytic and composite materials. The research was published in the online journal Advanced Material on Feb. 8. The grayish and elastic materials are on display in the university labs, according to Science and Technology Daily.　

References:

Gao Chao　　高超