Film systems and methods for gel casting and handling in aerogel production

Abstract

The invention provides an aerogel production assembly that includes a mold with a mold base defined by a casting substrate, where the casting substrate includes a film. The invention also provides an aerogel production method that involves filling such a mold with a wet gel precursor solution. In other embodiments, the invention provides an aerogel production assembly that includes a film and a film handling system. In still other embodiments, the invention provides an aerogel production assembly that includes an advantageous aging clamp mechanism. Further, some embodiments of the invention provide an aerogel production method that involves a wet gel sheet casted to a casting substrate, where the casting substrate includes a film, and the method includes both peeling the film off the wet gel sheet and conveying the wet gel sheet onto a drying substrate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.