The foam is made of aluminum oxide, a common high-temperature ceramic, but gets its extraordinary insulating powers from the many tiny air bubbles within the material. Air is an excellent thermal insulator, but needs to be trapped, as in a blanket, to be effective. The foam can be used not only for thermal insulation, but for a variety of other applications such as acoustic insulation and adsorption of environmental pollutants. Its low density can be important in applications where weight is at a premium. The product is generated by heating special crystals to boiling point, resulting in the ceramic oxide foam.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring group of minerals that can only be identified under a microscope.
There are several types of these flexible, fire-resistant fibers. In the past, asbestos was added to a variety of products to strengthen them and provide heat insulation and fire resistance. In most products, asbestos is combined with a binding material so that it is not readily released into the air. The foam was developed in Dr. Grader s laboratory after years of study of porous ceramics. By June 2001, the company expects to produce enough material to send samples for testing to a variety of corporations in the United States and Europe that are interested in the material s possible manufacture and use.