Title: POROUS POLYURETHANE NETWORKS AND METHODS OF PREPARATION
Number/Link: US2014/147607
Applicant/Assignee: Aerogel Technologies
Publication date: 29-05-2014
“Gist”: Monomeric tri-isocyanate and aromatic di- and triols dissolved in acetone and catalyzed by DBTDL form a gel which is supercritically dried into an aerogel.
Why it is interesting: Isocyanate-based aerogels have been reported before but because these are usually based on ‘industrial’ oligomeric raw materials like polymeric MDI and oligomeric polyols they have low mechanical properties. In the current invention, PU aerogels are prepared from monomeric tri-isocyanates (e.g. tris(isocyanatophenyl)methane) which is reacted with an aromatic triol (e.g. tris(hydroxyphenyl)ethane) and an aromatic diol (e.g. bisphenol-A) and catalyzed by DBTDL. The reaction takes place in anhydrous acetone which after gelation gets replaced by supercritical CO2. The resulting nanoporous materials are high in density (200-700 kg/m3) with a compressive modulus of more than 50MPa and a thermal conductivity below 50mW/m.K .
A (silica) aerogel.
Innovation in Polyurethanes 
Vivai LLP
/ June 9, 2014Hi. What are the applications of this?
Geert Bleys
/ June 9, 2014Well, according to the inventors:
[0077] Polyurethane aerogels and networks described
herein may be useful for a number of applications. For
example, polyurethane aerogels may be used for various
applications, such as those involving structural materials
(e.g., for building and construction materials; such as for a
tile, plate, disc, cylinder, honeycomb structure, beam, door,
panel, shingle, shutter, etc.), acoustic damping materials,
thermal insulating material, a cooler, an article of clothing
( e.g.,jacket, coat, shirt, pants, hat, facemask, sock, shoe, boot,
etc.), an oil-absorbing material, or any other appropriate
material.
But the examples they give could mainly be useful for thermal insulation I guess.