Kansas State University Research Foundation

Rajan Dhaubhadel

Christopher Sorensen

Amitabha Chakrabarti

Corey Gerving

An improved process for the production of ultralow density, high specific surface area gel products is provided which comprises providing, in an enclosed chamber, a mixture made up of small particles of material suspended in gas; the particles are then caused to aggregate in the chamber to form ramified fractal aggregate gels. The particles should have a radius (a) of up to about 50 nm and the aerosol should have a volume fraction (f) of at least 10. In preferred practice, the mixture is created by a spark-induced explosion of a precursor material (e.g., a hydrocarbon) and oxygen within the chamber. New compositions of matter are disclosed having densities below 3.0 mg/cc.

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Manhattan, KS, United States of America

Rajan Dhaubhadel