Overview
JOINT EVENT
3RD AEROGEL INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA FORUM - PROCESSES, PRODUCTS, APPLICATIONS & MARKETS
The aerogel world is undergoing rapid development. On the industry side, new players are entering the market. New aerogel producers, including start-ups but also established materials manufacturers, introduce their products, compete for market share, or aim to develop new applications and markets. In the meantime, traditional manufacturers keep innovating. Silica aerogel remains the most important product, but polymer and biopolymer aerogels are becoming available as well. Other companies focus on developing process technologies or aerogel based products. On the academic side, there has been a veritable explosion of research into understanding traditional aerogel materials and applications, as well as new aerogel materials combinations, precursors and sustainable raw materials, new aerogel synthesis routes and new potential applications.
5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AEROGELS FOR BIOMEDICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS
Aerogels are advanced, highly porous materials designed to meet the criteria of biomedical or environmental applications. They can be used as drug carriers, bone grafts, or wound dressings in biomedical applications and as insulators, absorbents, sensors, and catalysts in environmental applications. This conference aims to assemble and integrate the most recent progress in aerogels’ scientific and technological knowledge
For more information, please find the flyer for the event here
Registrations
Please register here
Program
Wednesday June 11, 2025
08.15 Registration
09.00 Aerogels for Biomedical Applications
09.00 Wim Malfait (Empa)
Opening Remarks
09.10 Stella Plazzotta (University of Udine)
Turning food residues into bioaerogels for fat replacement (Invited)
09.30 Patrina Paraskevopoulou (University of Athens)
AiryBerry: Ready-to-eat snacks based on aerogel and xerogel technology
09.50 Carlos García-González (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
Towards novel biomedical uses of aerogels in a sustainable and personalized context (Invited)
10.10 Coffee break
10.40 Tamara Athamneh (Jordan University of Science and Technology)
Preparation and Characterization of Copper-Crosslinked Alginate-Hyaluronic Acid Aerogels as Potential Wound Dressing Materials with Enhanced Antibacterial Properties
11.20 Ana Iglesias-Mejuto (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, ICMAB-CSIC)
In vivo monitorable aerogel implants for tissue engineering
11.20 Umair Ashraf (Polytechnic of Turin)
pH-Dependent Morphology and Characteristics of Whey Protein Isolate Aerogel: Implications for Biomedical Application
11.40 Clara López-Iglesias (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
Green sterilization and disinfection services for aerogels and other sensitive products (Invited)
12.00 Lunch
13.30 Environment and sustainability
13.30 Erkey Can (Koç University)
Metal Organic Framework Aerogel Composites (MOFACs) for CO2 Capture
13.50 Pawel Ziemiański (Empa)
Pushing the hydrophobicity of silica aerogels for direct air capture of CO2 (Invited)
14.10 Markus Niederberger (ETH Zurich)
Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles into Aerogels (Invited)
14.30 David Kiwic (ETH Zurich)
Palladium-Impregnated Aerogels for Sustainable Chemical Production
14.50 İlkay Turhan Kara (Istanbul University)
Incorporating Environmental Burdens into the Optimization of Mesoporous Material Production Processes
15.10 Coffee break
15.40 Željko Tomović (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Closed-loop recyclable high-performance organic aerogels (Invited)
16.00 Mengmeng Li (Empa)
Pushing the hydrophobicity of silica aerogels for direct air capture of CO2 (Invited)
16.20 Eleni Effraimopoulou (MINES Paris, PERSEE)
Next-generation thermal superinsulation with pectin composite aerogels (Invited)
16.40 Ioannis Michaloudis (American University of Cyprus)
Silica Aerogel in Luxury Design: The AirSwipe bag (Invited)
17.00 Welcome reception
Thursday June 12, 2025
08.30 Registration
09.00 Batteries, Technology and Processes
09.00 Ruben-Simon Kühnel (Empa)
Thermal runaway in lithium-ion and post-lithium-ion batteries (Invited)
09.20 Yunhong Wang (IBIH Advanced Materials)
IBIH Aerogels: From Commercialized Uses to Upcoming Industrial Deployments (Invited)
09.40 Steve Devine (Graphene Composites Ltd)
Evolution in Inherent Vibration-Suppressive Materials (Invited)
10.00 Barbara Milow (German Aerospace Center DLR)
Aerogel Launch Factory – Feasibility Study and Next Steps (Invited)
10.20 Coffee break
10.40 Marcus Worsley (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory LLNL)
Advances in Aerogels and Additive Manufacturing (Invited)
11.00 Gilberto Siqueira (Empa)
Nanocellulose aerogels – tailored processes for advanced properties (Invited)
11.20 Satoru Takeshita (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology AIST)
Recent progress in biopolymer-based aerogels: Microstructure formation (Invited)
11.40 To be announced
12.00 Lunch
13.00 Poster session
P01 – Harun Venkatesan (IIT Delhi) Sustainable Aerogel Liners for Thermal Insulation
P02 - Atelšek Hozjan (U. Maribor) Exploring the properties of agar aerogels for potential biomedical applications
P03 – Alberto Saitta (U. Udine) Conversion of fruit/vegetable waste into bioaerogels for active food packaging solutions
P04 – Marina Borzova (TU Eindhoven) Impact of sodium and synthesis parameters on silica aerogel from waterglass
P05 – Aamir Iqbal (KIST, Empa) Ultralight, Conductive & Robust Ti3C2Tx MXene-CNTs Aerogels for EMI Shielding
P06 – María Blanco-Vales (USC) Sustainable production of reprocessed starch aerogels
P07 – Shanyu Zhao (Empa) 3D printing of aerogels
P08 – Jaime Lledó (U. Valladolid) Methodologies to enhance the performance of thermally insulating PLA aerogels
P09 – Mitchell Barrett (UBC) Organic Aerogels Containing Chitosan Bio-Polymer From European Green Crab (EGC) Shells
P10 – Wim Malfait (Empa) Stable Graphitic Networks on Ultra-porous Polyimide Aerogels via Solvent-Guided Structuring
P11 – Jessica Kroener (DLR) Lab-scale and continuous industrial sulfur infiltration methods for metal-sulphur batteries
14.30 Product development and simulations
14.30 Alyne Lamy (Thermulon)
Characterisation Challenges in Aerogel Scale-Up: from Lab to Commercial Scale Manufacturing (Invited)
14.50 Laurens Snels (KU Leuven)
Surface Secrets: Characterizing the Hydrophobicity of Silica Aerogel Granules
15.10 Matthias Koebel (siloxene AG)
QT-polysiloxanes – enabler technology for hybrid nano-materials and sol-gel chemistry (Invited)
15.30 Steve de Pooter (Aerobel BV)
Aerobel: Innovative insulation materials and adhesives (Invited)
15.50 Coffee break
16.20 Stephen A. Steiner III (Aerogel Technologies)
Commercializing Aerogels is Hard. Here's Why. (Invited)
16.40 Nicholas Leventis (Aspen Aerogels Inc.)
Carbon and Graphite Aerogels: Morphology, Properties, Applications (Invited)
17.00 Sandra Galmarini (Empa)
New insights into the 3D structure of colloidal aerogels (Invited)
17.20 Prakul Pandit (German Aerospace Center DLR)
PoreX: Digital Materials Development
18.00 Conference Dinner
Friday June 13, 2025
08.30 Registration
09.00 Insulation
09.00 Andreas Gürtler (European Industrial Insulation Foundation)
Understanding and Using the EN 17956 Standard for Technical Insulation – and the Case for Mandating Energy Class C (Invited)
09.20 Stephan Möller (Ultima, Armacell)
From Furnace to Cold Space: Aerogel Insulation System Tests in Extreme Conditions (Invited)
09.40 Beatriz Merillas (University of Burgos, University of Valladolid)
Breaking Down Heat Transfer Mechanisms in Aerogels and Strategies for their Minimization
10.00 Frank Lotter (Center for Applied Energy Research CAE)
Reinforced Carbon xerogels for high temperature insulation applications
10.20 Luisa Durães (University of Coimbra)
Aramid-reinforced silica-cork aerogels for thermoacoustic barriers
10.40 Coffee break
11.00 Round table
12.00 Lunch
13.30 Aerogels for buildings
13.30 Amanda Stubbs-Perry (AeroShield Materials Inc.)
Scaling Monolithic Aerogel Sheets for Window Applications (Invited)
14.10 Beat Kämpfen (Kämpfen zinke + partner)
Aerogel: all-rounder for conservation (Invited)
14.20 Mike O'Connor (Keey Aerogel) & Sebastian von Stauffenberg (Agitec AG)
SNUG: EU project to develop sustainable insulation solutions for the building industry - Aerogel-Based Innovations in Residential Retrofitting: Monitoring and Material Development (Invited)
14.50 Wim Malfait (Empa)
Closing remarks
15.30 AAA 2025: Aerogel Architecture Award Ceremony
Optional Tours of NEST