aerogel Coating Technologies (aCT Inc.)

Aerogel was initially introduced in asphalt materials by the Standard Oil company in 1953. However, the mixing procedure was problematic in many ways. It was further determined that mixing aerogel with asphalt materials is a great challenge in terms of safety and practicality. Our ASU research team overcame these challenges by encapsulating the aerogel particle prior to their usage. The encapsulator can include co-products of the petroleum-refinery system (e.g., heavy oil products, asphalt binders) or compatible materials (e.g., synthetic polymers or organic polymers such as bio-derived compounds). The aerogel and encapsulator are blended to produce the composite. Examples of the aerogel composites include aerogel modified bituminous materials (aMBx). The main outcome of our aMBx technology showed great potential in the modification of asphalt materials to perform as a material with unique thermal resistance properties, and potentially providing an urban cooling mechanism for the Urban Heat Island (UHI). Barriers related to the manufacturing and field implementation of the aerogel-based product were overcome. The aMBx modified asphalt paving and/or roofing materials offer unique thermal resistance properties such as saving energy, reducing cooling and heating loads during summer and winters, reducing CO2 emissions and providing added value to the end-user and society.