Photo credit: Andrea d’Aquino
There’s Coperni’s Air Swipe bag that uses NASA aerogel, and then this innovative sprayable gel developed by Stanford University researchers that creates a shield to protect buildings from wildfire damage. Engineers claim that it can longer and is far more effective than existing commercial options.
This water-enhancing gel can easily be sprayed on homes and critical infrastructure to help keep them from burning during wildfires. When this gel is mixed with water and then sprayed on a building, it swells into a gelatinous substance that clings to the outside of the structure, creating a thick, wet shield. Once burned, the gel leaves behind silica particles assembled into a foam that is highly insulative and ends up scattering all of the heat, completely protecting the substrate beneath it.
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Under typical wildfire conditions, current water-enhancing gels dry out in 45 minutes. We’ve developed a gel that would have a broader application window – you can spray it further in advance of the fire and still get the benefit of the protection – and it will work better when the fire comes,” said Eric Appel, associate professor of materials science and engineering in the School of Engineering, who is senior author of the paper.
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