Engineers from the University of Bath have developed an ultra-light, low carbon aerogel for use in the manufacture of soundproofing and heat-shielding materials for the aerospace and automotive industries.

The graphene-based aerogel, which will be developed under the University of Bath spinout company Aerogel Core Ltd., is composed of synthetic, porous materials created by replacing the liquid in gels with gas.

The use of graphene reportedly enabled the engineers to create aerogels that maintain both their shape and strength, without the threat of the gel collapsing.

Further, the aerogel reportedly features tunable acoustic properties as well as demonstrating thermal, fire and electromagnetic interference shielding characteristics.

The team is eyeing the aerogel specifically for the aerospace sector.

“Our initial calculations for a 280 aircraft fleet, like that of British Airways, would see an estimated 30-90 tonne reduction in CO₂ emissions per year by using our material, due to reducing the weight of similar materials by up to 50%,” the engineers explained.