Composed of 99% air, Airgel is the lightest solid in the world. This unique material has found an objective in several forms – from NASA missions to haute couture.
Pushed by the desire to create a 3D cloud, the Greek artist, Ioannis Michaloudis, learned to use Airgel as an artistic support. His journey covering over 25 years took him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge; Shivaji University in the Maharashtra, India and the NASA jet propulsion laboratory in southern California.
A MIT researcher introduced Michaloudis to Airgel after hearing his ambition to create clouds, and he was immediately intrigued. Aerogel is made by combining a polymer with a solvent to create a gel and seduce it under pressure, leaving a solid filled with microscopic pores.
JPL scientists chose Airgel in the mid -1990s to allow Rubb Mission, with the idea that a porous surface could capture particles while flying on a probe behind a comet. Airgel worked in laboratory tests, but it was difficult to make in a coherent way and had to be worthy of space. NASA JPL has hired the scientist of materials Steve Jones to develop a flight in flight aerogelAnd he finally obtained funding for an Airgel laboratory.
The Stardust mission succeeded, and when Michaloudis heard about it, he contacted JPL, where Jones invited him to the laboratory. Now retired, Jones recalled: “I crossed the Airgel primer with him, the different types you could make and their different properties.” The size of the Jones reactor, allowing him to make big objects, impressed Michaloudis. With advice on how to use a large reactor safely, he equipped his own laboratory with one.
In India, Michaloudis has learned recipes for aerogels that can be molded in large objects and do not crack or do not shrink during drying. His continuous work with Aerogels has created a large art portfolio.
Michachaloudis has had More than a dozen solo exhibitions. All his works involve Airgel, attracting attention with its unusual qualities. An ethereal and translucent blue, it throws an orange shadow and can withstand melted metals.
In 2020, Michaloudis created an aerogel pendant encapsulated in quartz for the centerpiece of the collection of this year of the French jewelry house Boucheron. Michaloudis also captured the attention of the world of fashion and design with an Airgel handbag, unveiled during Coperni’s start in 2024 Fall Collection.
NASA was a crucial step along the way. “I am what I am and we did what we did thanks to the Stardust project,” said Michaloudis.