World’s lightest material auctioned for $1.6 million

(ECNS) -- The world's lightest solid material created by scientists at China's Zhejiang University fetched 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) at an auction for scientific achievements in Zhejiang province Tuesday.

With a density of just 0.16 milligrams per cubic centimeter, a sixth of air's density, graphene aerogel - also known as carbon aerogel - was developed by a nanometer-macromolecule research group at the university in March.

Professor Gao Chao, the leading researcher, said they used freeze-dried solutions, which removed the moisture from carbon nanotubes and graphemes but which retained their integrity, creating what is now believed to be the world's lightest material.

Despite its fragile appearance, carbon aerogel also has excellent elasticity and bounces back when compressed.

It is also one of the best oil-absorbent materials. Current oil-absorbent products usually absorb organic solvent about 10 times their own weight - carbon aerogel can absorb up to 900 times its own weight.

Aerogel can also absorb organics quickly: 1 gram of aerogel can absorb 68.8 grams of organics per second, making it ideal for treating oil spills at sea.