Aerogel-enhanced blankets: state-of-the-art, market readiness, and future challenges

Aerogel-enhanced products are often indicated as promising materials for increasing the thermal resistance of the building envelope. In particular, aerogel-enhanced blankets have already showed their effectiveness in several retrofitting projects. This paper aims to review the current state of the art regarding aerogel-enhanced blankets. In these materials, a fiber matrix bonds together the aerogel structure, compensating the low mechanical properties of the aerogels without reducing their exceptionally low thermal conductivity. This paper describes current aerogel-enhanced blankets existing worldwide and produced by different companies. Then, a new aerogel-enhanced blanket developed by the authors is presented. Thermal characterization tests confirm the superior performance of aerogel-enhanced blankets, which show a thermal conductivity as low as 0.013 W/(mK). Finally, future research challenges for aerogel-enhanced blankets are presented