Recently, a research achievement released by the Institute of Building Materials of the China Academy of Building Research shows that the modified silica aerogel composite material developed by it has excellent performance in the field of building insulation. Its thermal - conductivity coefficient is as low as 0.018W/(m·K), and the energy - saving efficiency is 30% higher than that of traditional thermal - insulation materials.

Silica aerogel is known as the "lightest solid in the world" due to its nanoporous structure. However, traditional products have problems such as high brittleness and easy powdering, which limit their large - scale application in the construction field. The research team introduced organosilane modifiers during the aerogel preparation process to construct an "organic - inorganic" hybrid network structure. This not only retains the original ultra - low thermal conductivity, but also increases the flexural strength of the material to 1.2MPa, solving the mechanical property short - board that has long plagued the industry.

Experimental data shows that the exterior wall insulation system using this material can reduce the building heating energy consumption by more than 40% in cold regions, and its service life is more than 50 years, which is the same as that of the main building structure. At present, this material has been applied in the demonstration projects of ultra - low - energy - consumption buildings in Hebei, Xinjiang and other places, and the related technologies have obtained 5 national invention patents, which is expected to promote the upgrading of building insulation materials.