AERODRY: Efficient UK scale-up production of Thermulon superinsulating aerogels for EV and construction applications – improved drying technology.

Thermulon is a deep-tech start-up based in the North East of England and London working on industry-changing insulation materials. Created in part in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy of 2017, Thermulon is developing ways to make both buildings and Electric Vehicles (EVs) safer through the scalable and efficient manufacturing of aerogels.

The UK government has pledged to achieve Carbon neutrality by 2050, but with over 30% of the UK's carbon emissions originating from fossil fuels used to heat homes and offices; energy-efficient buildings are a key component of the strategy.

Additionally, Li-ion batteries for EVs are vulnerable to Thermal Runaway (TR): an incident where a cell heats in an uncontrolled manner, breaches a safe operating temperature and triggers a domino effect of overheating in the rest of the module or pack; causing a vehicle fire.

Aerogels are some of the most insulating materials in existence, have excellent fire-resistant properties when made of silica and are open-celled (vapour permeable) materials. Their adoption in the construction and automotive industries, in aid of decarbonisation, has historically been limited by their high price and low volume production, which itself has come from the high energy and intensive production/manufacturing methodologies.

Thermulon's novel chemical aerogel process has been designed for scale. The AERODRY project aims to bring together Thermulon's novel chemical process with Almac's long standing history of scalable commercial manufacturing to bring Thermulon's aerogels to market faster.