Composite fibre could protect firefighters from extreme heat

By Nina Notman2022-08-05T08:18:00

Two firefighters tackling a blaze on an aircraft with water hoses and the fir engine in the background

Source: © Monty Rakusen/Getty Images

The next-generation aerogel with superior thermal insulation could be used to make heat protective clothing and spacecraft shielding

Firefighter clothing, spacecraft insulation, and coatings for deep-buried detectors could all benefit from a novel thermally-insulating material that exhibits superior thermal insulation over the materials currently used for these applications. This article also comes with a downloadable summary slide to give 14–16 students a new science context when studying composite materials.

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