With extreme thermal insulation performance, lightweight hydrophobicity and high temperature resistance, aerogel powder breaks through the performance bottleneck of traditional thermal insulation materials. It has rapidly penetrated into core fields such as building energy conservation, new energy, petrochemical industry and aerospace, shifting from special military materials to civil industrial mass production, becoming a core functional material for energy saving and consumption reduction under the dual carbon goals. Its application scenarios continue to expand, market scale grows rapidly, industrialization process accelerates, and the industry is rapidly upgrading towards low cost, high dispersion and customization.
Building energy conservation is the largest downstream application field of aerogel powder, accounting for more than 40% of the overall market share. Mixing aerogel powder into thermal insulation mortar, thermal insulation coating and energy-saving panels can greatly reduce wall thermal conductivity, creating an ultra-thin and high-efficiency thermal insulation system with thickness only 1/3–1/5 of traditional thermal insulation layer, saving building space and improving energy efficiency, in line with green building and ultra-low energy consumption building standards. In the renovation of old communities and public building energy-saving projects, aerogel thermal insulation coating is convenient for construction with a service life of up to 20 years, gradually replacing traditional rock wool and organic thermal insulation materials. In 2024, the consumption of aerogel powder in domestic construction field increased by 35% year-on-year, and market penetration continued to rise.
The new energy field has become the most potential growth track for aerogel powder, with explosive demand from power battery and photovoltaic industries. In the power battery pack of new energy vehicles, thermal insulation felt and gaskets made of aerogel powder can effectively block the spread of cell thermal runaway, improve battery safety level, adapting to the needs of high-end electric vehicles and energy storage power stations; in photovoltaic modules and inverter heat dissipation systems, aerogel powder has excellent thermal insulation and weather resistance, ensuring stable operation of photovoltaic equipment in alternating high and low temperature environments. In 2024, the demand growth rate of aerogel powder in the new energy field exceeded 42%, becoming the core growth engine of the industry.
High-end applications of aerogel powder continue to land in petrochemical, industrial pipeline and aerospace fields. In petroleum refining and LNG storage and transportation, its ultra-low thermal conductivity can greatly reduce heat loss of pipelines and storage tanks, suitable for ultra-low temperature and high temperature working conditions, with energy-saving effect far exceeding traditional materials; in aerospace equipment, aerogel powder is used for spacecraft thermal protection and cabin insulation, and its lightweight feature effectively reduces load load, resisting extreme temperature differences in space, becoming a key material for deep space exploration and satellite engineering. In addition, aerogel powder has also made breakthroughs in environmental adsorption and catalyst carrier fields. Its high specific surface area gives it strong adsorption capacity, which can be used for waste gas treatment, water purification and organic pollutant degradation.
The current industry development presents three core trends: first, large-scale cost reduction, with the comprehensive popularization of atmospheric drying technology and continuous capacity expansion, driving a sharp drop in powder prices and accelerating penetration in civil fields; second, functional customization, developing special powders with high dispersion, high temperature resistance and high hydrophobicity for different scenarios to improve material adaptability; third, composite upgrading, compounding with fiber, resin, ceramic and other substrates to overcome the shortcomings of high brittleness and low strength of powder, expanding application boundaries. It is expected that from 2025 to 2030, the global aerogel powder market will maintain an average annual growth rate of more than 18%. With technological maturity and cost reduction, it will fully enter a new stage of industrial popularization.