Silica and Silicon's Role in Morgellons

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Originally Posted by Kammy

Nah! We just have good working chemistry. Don't start bragging - you know what happens?

Just for fun......

Kat

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Silica GeL
Silica gel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Silica gel is a granular, vitreous, highly porous form of silica made synthetically from sodium silicate. Despite its name, silica gel is a solid. Silica gel is most commonly encountered in everyday life as beads packed in a semi-permeable plastic. In this form, it is used as a desiccant to control local humidity in order to avoid spoilage or degradation of some goods. Because of poisonous dopants (see below) and their very high adsorption of moisture, silica gel packets usually bear warnings for the user not to eat the contents. If consumed, the pure silica gel is unlikely to cause acute or chronic illness, but would be problematic nonetheless. However, some packaged desiccants may include fungicide and/or pesticide poisons. Food-grade desiccant should not include any poisons which would cause long-term harm to humans if consumed in the quantities normally included with the items of food. A chemically similar substance with far greater porosity is aerogel.


Some of the beads may be doped with a moisture indicator, such as cobalt(II) chloride, which is toxic and may be carcinogenic. Cobalt (II) chloride is deep blue when dry (anhydrous) and pink when moist (hydrated).
Crystalline silica dust can cause silicosis but synthetic amorphous silica gel is non-friable, and so does not cause silicosis.

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Aerogel

Aerogel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Silica aerogel is the most common type of aerogel and the most extensively studied and used. It is a silica-based substance, derived from silica gel.

• Metal-aerogel nanocomposites can be prepared by impregnating the hydrogel with solution containing ions of the suitable noble or transition metals. The impregnated hydrogel is then irradiated with gamma rays, leading to precipitation of nanoparticles of the metal. Such composites can be used as catalysts, sensors, electromagnetic shielding, and in waste disposal. A prospective use of platinum-on-carbon catalysts is in fuell cells.
• Aerogel can be used as a drug delivery system due to its biocompatibility. Due to its high surface area and porous structure, drugs can be adsorbed from supercritical CO2. The release rate of the drugs can be tailored based on the properties of aerogel.

Silica-based aerogels are not known to be carcinogenic or toxic. However, they are a mechanical irritant to the eyes, skin, respiratory tract and digestive system. They also can induce dryness of the skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Therefore, it is recommended that protective gear including gloves and eye goggles be worn whenever handling aerogels.[20]




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OK, folks THIS is interesting!

NANOGEL

Nanogel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nanogel is a term used to describe any mixture of nano-sized particles or fibers with a gel, usually protein-based. They have the ability to cross into the cells of living organisms.

.....A highly hydrophilic fluorescent nanogel.....The cell absorbs water when colder and squeezes the water out as its internal temperature rises; the relative quantity of water masks or exposes the fluorescence of the nanogel.

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Silica Aero Gel
Nanocomposites

Nanocomposites : Silica Aerogels

Aerogel Nanocomposites Through Sol-Gel Processing



These composites were prepared by adding metal salts, or other compounds to a sol before gelation. The deep blue aerogel contains nickel; the pale green, copper; the black, carbon and iron; the orange, iron oxide; and the remaining aerogels, organic compounds.




This approach is the logical first route to aerogel nanocomposites and can produce many varieties of composites. There are, however, limitations to these procedures. Simply stated, a non-silica material is added to the silica sol before gelation. This added material may be a soluble organic or inorganic compound, insoluble powders, polymers, biomaterials, bulk fibers, woven cloths, or porous preforms.

Silica aerogel-Carbon compositesThese have been prepared through the decomposition of various hydrocarbon gases at high temperatures. However, due to the fine structure of silica aerogels, the decomposition take place at a much lower temperature (200-450 degrees C) than the corresponding decomposition in the absence of the aerogel. Carbon loadings ranging from 1-800% have been observed. Surprisingly, at lower loadings, the carbon deposition is relatively uniform throughout the volume of monolithic aerogel slabs. At higher loadings, the carbon begins to localize at the exterior surface of the composite monolith. Interesting aspects of these composites include electrical conductivity at higher loadings, and mechanical strengthening of the composite relative to the original aerogel.Silica aerogel-Silicon compositesThe thermal decomposition of various organosilanes on a silica aerogel forms deposits of elemental silicon. In this case the rapid decomposition of the silane precursor leads to deposits localized near the exterior surface of the aerogel substrate. Thermal annealing of the composite induces crystallization of the silicon. The resulting composite, with 20-30 nm diameter silicon particles, exhibits strong visible photoluminescence at 600 nm.Silica aerogel-Transition Metal compositesOrgano-transition metal complexes are ideal precursors for this type of composite. Even the least volatile of these possesses a sufficient vapor pressure to be deposited within an aerogel. Under controlled conditions, these deposit uniformly throughout the entire volume of the aerogel monolith. Typically, the metal compounds are then thermally degraded to their base metals. These intermediate composites are generally highly reactive, due to the disperse nature of the metallic phase, and can be easily converted to metal oxides, sulfides, or halides. This process can be repeated several times to increase the loading of the metallic phase. Typically composites prepared in this way possess crystals of the desired metal compound on the order of 5-100 nm in diameter.


Remember Kammy, I said your "star-shiip-shaped" particles looked like carbon??

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Nanogel Polymer Electrolytes

Nanogel Polymer Electrolytes

Fuel cells based on proton exchange membranes have the potential to provide the core of all Air Force power production, from aircraft ground support equipment to unmanned aerial vehicle and remote power generation. The objective of our program is to develop nanohybrid proton membranes and new proton conductors, which combine high proton conductivity (especially at high temperature/low relative humidity), low gas permeability and methanol crossover, decreased swelling and mechanical robustness for fuel cell applications.

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AFRL Tests Aerogel-Filled Carbon Foam TPS Concept

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- AFRL researchers recently used the lab's Structural Test Facility to complete successful testing of an advanced aerogelfilled carbon foam and oxidation-resistant composite structural shell thermal protection system (TPS) component. AFRL is completing this interdisciplinary development effort under contract to Ultramet (Pacoima, California).
The state-of-the-art TPS employed on the space shuttle orbiter comprises lightweight silica-based tiles that provide no benefit to the structural performance of the airframe. AFRL's new concepts are pushing the technology toward the more structurally and thermally efficient designs that the Air Force must have in order to meet the rapid-turnaround requirements of future military systems.


Aero Gel Capabilities
Stardust | JPL | NASA

Aerogel is not like conventional foams, but is a special porous material with extreme microporosity on a micron scale. It is composed of individual features only a few nanometers in size. These are linked in a highly porous dendritic-like structure. This exotic substance has many unusual properties, such as low thermal conductivity, refractive index and sound speed - in addition to its exceptional ability to capture fast moving dust. Aerogel is made by high temperature and pressure-critical-point drying of a gel composed of colloidal silica structural units filled with solvents. Aerogel was prepared and flight qualified at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL also produced aerogel for the Mars Pathfinder and Stardust missions, which possesses well-controlled properties and purity. This particular JPL-made silica aerogel approaches the density of air. It is strong and easily survives launch and space environments. JPL aerogel capture experiments have flown previously and been recovered on Shuttle flights, Spacelab II and Eureca.



NASA Uses Aerogel Technology



NASA Uses Aerogel Technology to Capture Space Particles | Military Computer Finance PC Loan for Armed Forces with Bad Credit History


The guys at NASA are using a silicon based Aerogel in their mission dubbed ‘StarDust” which involves capturing particles from space. Collecting these particles without damaging them has always posed a problem because the impact velocity of particles can be up to 6 times the speed of a rifle bullet. Although these particles are smaller than a grain of sand, high-speed capture can alter their shape and chemical composition - or even vaporize them entirely. This silicon-based solid has a porous, sponge-like structure in which 99.8 percent of the volume is empty space. By comparison, Aerogel is 1,000 times less dense than glass, which is another silicon-based solid.

When a particle hits the aerogel, it buries itself in the material, creating a carrot-shaped track up to 200 times its own length. This slows it down and brings the sample to a relatively gradual stop. Since aerogel is mostly transparent scientists will use these tracks to find and extract the tiny particles.



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