LEGO bricks inspire new weight-bearing aerogel designs

LEGO bricks have inspired creativity for a long time
.
The classic toy also recently provided University of Akron (UA) researchers with a design path to develop highly loaded aerogels
.

Aerogels are formed by combining polymers with a solvent to form a gel, then removing the liquid from the gel and replacing it with air
.
This makes them porous and very low density, but a major disadvantage is that they cannot withstand large loads
.
Aerogels are used as insulation in space shuttles and submarine pipelines, as sound insulation, and in hospital filters to remove nanoparticles and viruses from the air
.

The LEGO design provided a template for the UA-led engineering team Piljae Joo, Yimin Yao, Nicholas Teo and Dr Sadhan Jana to strengthen the aerogel structure
.

"We took inspiration from the simplicity of LEGO bricks and used them as templates to develop stronger and more durable load-bearing aerogel structures," explained Jana, associate dean for research in UA's School of Engineering and Polymer Sciences
.

LEGO->
.
The aerogel inclusions provide ideal thermal insulation, while the modular nature and strength are the main advantages of the brick, the researchers said
.

"If an 8,000-pound elephant were standing on a 12-by-16-by-16-inch aerogel brick structure, the brick wouldn't crack
," Jana said
.

Jana's on-campus laboratory is working on aerogel brick designs that will be used as packaging for cryogenic insulation as well as air filters in hospitals
.