Determining that aerogel is an excellent thermal insulator with potential applications for microelectronics, robotics, biotechnology and sensor technology, researchers from Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology have used the material to 3D print an aerogel-based pump.

Based on previous research wherein scientists determined that aerogel silica could be used for manufacturing with high precision due to the material’s light weight, porous, hydrophobic and thermal insulating properties, the Empa team 3D printed an aerogel membrane to be used in the construction of a thermo-molecular gas pump.

To demonstrate that fine aerogel structures can be produced in 3D printing, the researchers printed a lotus flower made and gas pump of aerogel. Source: EmpaAlso known as a Knudsen pump in a nod to the Danish physicist Martin Knudsen, the gas pump operates without any moving parts. The pump’s operation is reliant on the limited gas transport within a series of nanoscale pores with hot walls at one end and cold walls at the other. The pump was constructed from the silica aerogel, which was treated on one side with black manganese oxide nanoparticles. When placed under a light source, the pump heats up on the black manganese oxide side and commences the pumping of gases or solvent vapors.

According to the Empa team, the Knudsen pump, which can be operated entirely by sunlight, is capable of more than pumping. Contamination in the air can circulate through the aerogel membrane countless times and broken down chemically via a reaction instigated by the manganese oxide nanoparticles.

The Empa researchers are currently seeking out industrial partners to incorporate 3D-printed aerogel structures into high-tech applications.

The research appears in the journal Nature.