Aerogel Insulation Blanket Market

More than 525 million square feet of a single supplier’s aerogel insulation has gone onto pipes, vessels and battery packs since 2008, sold for over USD 1.6 billion, according to Aspen Aerogels’ 2025 annual report on Form 10-K. The aerogel insulation blanket market covers flexible silica aerogel locked into a fibre batting and sold as rolls, die-cut sheets and battery thermal barrier pads. Douglas Insights sizes it at USD 826.5 million in 2025: 38.62 million square metres multiplied by an average USD 21.40 per square metre. Value reaches USD 1.81 billion by 2035, a revenue CAGR of 8.18%, because square metres grow 9.6% a year while the average price slips 1.3% a year. China set the pace: GB 38031-2025, the mandatory traction battery safety standard released on 28 March 2025, took effect on 1 July 2026 with a no-fire, no-explosion requirement after thermal runaway. The report belongs to our advanced materials and composites coverage, and every number follows the Douglas Insights research methodology.

Which aerogel blanket segment makes the money: refinery pipe, battery barrier pads or building retrofit?

Industrial process and pipe insulation earns 37.4% of aerogel blanket value, or USD 309.1 million in 2025, ahead of EV battery thermal barriers at 31.8%. Refinery, petrochemical and LNG owners buy thick rolls by the pallet. Battery makers buy thin sheets.

Industrial process and pipe insulation holds USD 309.1 million because hot lines between 200°C to 650°C are where a 10 mm aerogel blanket replaces roughly 25 mm or more of mineral wool and frees pipe-rack space. EV battery thermal barriers take USD 262.8 million; each pack needs cell-to-cell pads that stop a runaway cell from igniting its neighbours. Building and construction adds USD 114.9 million, mostly thin internal wall linings and window reveals where every centimetre of floor area is let at a premium. Power generation and district energy brings USD 79.3 million from steam headers and buried heat mains. Aerospace and other uses, including apparel, cold-chain boxes and footwear, close the list at USD 60.3 million.

EV battery thermal barriers grow fastest, at 10.6% a year, and overtake process piping by 2035 at USD 719.7 million. The reason is regulatory rather than fashionable: Chinese packs must now pass a propagation test without fire, and European and North American platforms are copying the barrier architecture. By thickness, under 3 mm sheets serve battery packs, 3 to 6 mm grades serve buildings and cold boxes, and 10 mm and above dominates industrial piping.

Why are battery engineers and LNG operators specifying aerogel blankets over ceramic paper and mineral wool?

Aerogel blanket square metres grow 9.6% a year to 2035, and four application pulls supply every point of that volume leg. Battery safety rules contribute 4.1 points, corrosion-under-insulation retrofits 2.9, building retrofits 1.5 and steam, district heat and other uses 1.1, on Douglas Insights calculations.

Battery safety is the largest pull, worth 4.1 points. China released the Guobiao (GB) national standard GB 38031-2025 on 28 March 2025 and enforced it from 1 July 2026, replacing the 2020 edition that had applied from 1 January 2021. The new text moves from a five-minute warning before fire to no fire and no explosion, and an aerogel barrier sheet between cells is the lightest way to pass it. Douglas Insights counts about 1.9 square metres of aerogel pad in a typical pack, so 3.58 million packs absorbed 6.81 million square metres in 2025. For the pack-level picture, see our EV Battery Market and Electric Vehicle Battery Thermal Management System Market reports.

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) adds 2.9 points, and it is the slowest-moving but steadiest pull. Water trapped in wet mineral wool corrodes carbon steel, and hydrophobic aerogel blanket sheds it. Aspen sells Pyrogel XTE, rated to 650°C and tuned for 100°C to 400°C, as a CUI defence, and its product pages cite 1,497 km of Spaceloft Subsea pipe already installed. Refinery turnarounds every 4 to 6 years give owners a scheduled moment to strip and replace jacketing, so a refinery that starts aerogel conversion in 2026 typically finishes its hot units by about 2032.

Building retrofits add 1.5 points. Space is the product. Aerogel blanket lining at 10 mm reaches a thermal resistance that would take about 20 mm of extruded polystyrene, and the Extruded Polystyrene Insulation Materials Market report shows how far cheaper boards still dominate new walls. Aerogel wins only where space is scarce: listed facades, window reveals and balcony slabs, where saving 10 mm of wall depth over a 100 square metre flat can be worth more than the material itself.

Steam, district heat and other uses supply the last 1.1 points. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains need sub-ambient and cryogenic grades such as Cryogel Z, which carries an integral vapour barrier, and new heat networks in northern Europe and China lay pre-insulated pipe with aerogel wraps at valves and bends. Added together, 4.1 plus 2.9 plus 1.5 plus 1.1 gives the 9.6-point volume leg.

What limits aerogel blanket uptake when mineral wool costs a fifth as much?

Three brakes remove 2.5 points from aerogel blanket volume growth in the slower case, cutting the leg from 9.6% to 7.1%. Price premium, EV programme delays and rival barrier materials explain the gap, and each one is already visible in 2025 order books and supplier results.

The price premium removes 1.1 points. A square metre of 10 mm Western aerogel blanket costs USD 28 to USD 42 against roughly USD 6 to USD 8 for mineral wool of equal thermal resistance on Douglas Insights price bands, so cold-service and low-temperature jobs often stay with cheaper wool. Dust adds labour too.

EV programme delays remove 0.9 points. Aspen’s revenue fell to USD 271.1 million in 2025 from USD 452.7 million in 2024, and its thermal barrier sales dropped from USD 306.8 million to USD 168.9 million, according to its annual report. On 6 November 2025 the company cut its 2025 revenue outlook to USD 270 to 280 million from USD 297 to 317 million, citing lower North American EV production, in its third-quarter release.

Rival barrier materials remove 0.5 points. Mica sheets, ceramic fibre papers and intumescent coatings all pass propagation tests in some pack designs, and Aspen’s own filing lists Unifrax, now Alkegen, and IBIDEN among competitors.

How much does a square metre of aerogel blanket cost a contractor or a pack maker in 2025?

Aerogel blanket averages USD 21.40 per square metre across all 2025 volume, but realised prices run from about USD 8 for Chinese commodity felt to USD 90 for fabricated battery pads. The mix, not list prices, decides the market average, and the mix is shifting toward cheaper Asian output.

Aspen’s history anchors the Western band: 525 million square feet sold for USD 1.6 billion works out at USD 32.80 per square metre, near the middle of the USD 28 to USD 42 industrial range. Mix matters. Douglas Insights puts segment averages at USD 24.10 for industrial piping, USD 38.60 for EV barriers, USD 17.80 for power and district energy, USD 11.30 for building grades and USD 13.82 for other uses.

The price leg is minus 1.3% a year. Chinese ambient-pressure drying lines keep adding cheap felt. By 2035 the average aerogel blanket square metre sells for USD 18.78, with battery pads holding price better than rolls.

Who supplies aerogel blankets, and how far does Aspen’s 32.8% lead stretch?

Aspen Aerogels leads with 32.8% of 2025 aerogel blanket value, a Douglas Insights estimate anchored on its USD 271.1 million of disclosed revenue. Chinese producers hold most of the remaining square metres, while Armacell, JIOS Aerogel, Cabot, Alkegen and IBIDEN compete in narrower niches.

Aspen Aerogels’ position rests on patents and a single large customer. The company held 400 issued patents and 438 pending at 31 December 2025, and General Motors supplied 59% of its 2025 revenue, according to its Form 10-K. Its energy industrial line earned USD 102.2 million in 2025, or 12.4% of global aerogel blanket value by itself, from blankets made in East Providence, Rhode Island and by a contract manufacturer in China.

Armacell brings a global flexible-insulation distribution network that already reaches the contractors who buy aerogel rolls. JIOS Aerogel runs a plant in Pioneer, Singapore, and its company site reports that a Korean manufacturing licensee won a contract to supply Thermal Blade barriers to Hyundai. Cabot calls itself the leading maker of particulate silica aerogel and sells a non-woven aerogel blanket for architectural membrane roofing, per its aerogel product page.

Douglas Insights estimates the six named suppliers together at 45.7% of 2025 value, with Chinese and other producers holding 54.3%. Aspen’s decision to demobilise its planned second plant in Statesboro, Georgia, after spending USD 15.4 million there by 30 September 2025, leaves Chinese lines as the main source of new aerogel blanket capacity, as its November 2025 release records.

Where will aerogel blanket square metres grow fastest, from the Gulf to the Pacific?

Asia Pacific leads aerogel blanket value with USD 361.4 million, or 43.7% of 2025 sales, growing 9.3% a year to USD 879.4 million by 2035. The Middle East grows fastest at 9.8%, while North America slows to 6.1% after the 2025 EV correction.

Asia Pacific’s USD 361.4 million rests on Chinese battery barrier volume and the cheapest aerogel blanket anywhere. North America carries USD 241.2 million, drawn from Gulf Coast refining, LNG export terminals and the GM battery programmes. Europe contributes USD 141.8 million, split between building retrofits in Germany, France and the UK, and pack plants supplying European carmakers.

The Middle East, at USD 48.3 million, grows 9.8% a year because gas processing and LNG expansion put long runs of hot and cryogenic pipe into a humid coastal climate where CUI is costly. Latin America adds USD 22.6 million, led by refinery and offshore work. Africa is the wildcard: USD 11.2 million in 2025 and USD 26.5 million by 2035, at 8.99% a year, with most of the upside tied to whether LNG export projects reach construction.

Which standards govern flexible aerogel insulation, from ASTM C1728 to GB/T 34336?

Three documents set the aerogel blanket rulebook: ASTM C1728 for flexible aerogel insulation, China’s GB/T 34336-2017 for aerogel composite products and GB 38031-2025 for battery packs. The first two define the product; the third drives 42.7% of forecast volume growth.

ASTM C1728 classifies flexible aerogel insulation into Types I, II and III and covers continuous use from minus 196°C up to 649°C. The listing shows C1728-23 superseded by C1728-25a, with the page updated on 16 May 2025. Specifiers write the type into piping schedules. No type, no tender.

China’s GB/T 34336-2017, the national standard for nanoporous aerogel composite thermal insulation products, was released on 14 October 2017 and applied from 1 September 2018. It gave Chinese aerogel felt makers a common test basis for thermal conductivity and water repellence.

The battery rule binds. GB 38031-2025, released on 28 March 2025 and in force from 1 July 2026 according to the national standards register, replaced GB 38031-2020. Douglas Insights attributes 4.1 of the 9.6 volume points to this and parallel pack-safety rules, which is 42.7% of the volume leg.

How thin can an aerogel blanket get before cell-to-cell propagation protection fails?

Battery-grade aerogel blanket now runs under 3 mm, against 10 mm for most pipe rolls, and the thinnest pads trade some insulation for space. Douglas Insights counts about 1.9 square metres of such sheet per typical pack, inside a pad price band of USD 45 to USD 90.

At 1 to 2 mm, aerogel pads still slow heat transfer enough to keep a neighbouring cell below its runaway onset during a short event, but they need a compression layer so cell swelling does not crush the pores. In piping, 10 mm and above is normal, and two layers of 10 mm aerogel blanket replace roughly 50 to 60 mm of mineral wool on a 400°C line.

Thinness sells. A pack maker that saves 4 mm between 100 cells recovers 400 mm of module length, which is why barrier pads fetch USD 38.60 per square metre on average, nearly double the market mean of USD 21.40.

Is corrosion under insulation the hidden reason refineries pay the aerogel blanket premium?

Yes: corrosion under insulation explains 2.9 of the 9.6 volume points for aerogel blanket, more than building retrofits and power combined. Refinery owners pay USD 28 to USD 42 per square metre because a dry, hydrophobic jacket cuts inspection and repair spending over a 20-year pipe life.

Wet mineral wool holds water against carbon steel running below about 175°C, where corrosion under jackets is worst; lines up to 200°C are the classic CUI zone. Aerogel blanket repels liquid water while letting vapour escape, and Pyrogel XTE is marketed specifically against CUI. Douglas Insights expects industrial process and pipe insulation to reach USD 602.4 million by 2035, at 6.9% a year, with CUI retrofits as the largest single reason.

What if EV battery output stalls again: what are aerogel blankets worth in 2035?

Aerogel blankets reach USD 1.81 billion by 2035 in the base case, USD 1.29 billion if volume growth slows to 7.1%, and USD 2.37 billion if it climbs to 11.8%. Battery pack output and Chinese price cuts decide which path holds.

The slower case repeats 2025 at global scale, with Chinese felt prices falling 2.4% a year. The faster case assumes GB 38031-2025, enforced from 1 July 2026, becomes the template for pack rules elsewhere, and that LNG and refinery owners treat aerogel as default CUI practice. Adding one point to annual square-metre growth lifts the 2035 aerogel blanket figure by USD 172.4 million; removing one point cuts it by USD 158.8 million.

Published forecasts for aerogel products run from about 7.81% to 16.34% a year. Our 8.18% lands at the low end because we model a falling price per square metre, which most published figures ignore, and because 2025 was a trough year for EV barrier revenue.

Douglas Exclusive: the aerogel blanket application scorecard

The aerogel blanket application scorecard is a Douglas Insights model built from 48 inputs: eight applications rated on six weighted criteria, drawing on 8 documents cited in this report plus our own price bands. It ranks where aerogel blanket wins on merit, not where it sells today.

Each criterion is scored 1 to 5 and weighted, so a perfect application scores 100. EV battery cell-to-cell barriers top the card at 90, because thinness and regulation both score 5. LNG and cryogenic lines follow at 81 and refinery CUI piping at 79.

The finding: three applications above 75 points hold 69.2% of 2025 aerogel blanket value and 72.9% of 2035 value in our model. Building retrofit scores only 61 despite strong policy, because buyers there tolerate almost no price premium. Battery energy storage racks, at 68, are the sleeper: scored higher than subsea, but still absent from most supplier order books.

How we counted 38.62 million square metres and priced each one?

Douglas Insights tallies 38.62 million square metres of aerogel blanket in 2025 and multiplies them by USD 21.40 each to reach USD 826.5 million. The model runs six regions by five applications, 30 cells, each with its own square metres and price.

Segment volumes are 12.83 million square metres of industrial piping at USD 24.10, 6.81 million of EV barrier at USD 38.60, 10.17 million of building grade at USD 11.30, 4.46 million of power and district energy at USD 17.80 and 4.36 million of other uses at USD 13.82. They sum to 38.62 million square metres and USD 826.5 million. Forward, 38.62 million square metres grow 9.6% a year to 96.59 million, and USD 21.40 falls 1.3% a year to USD 18.78, giving USD 1.81 billion.

Two cross-checks frame the result. Aspen’s lifetime average of USD 32.80 per square metre sits 6.3% below the USD 35.00 midpoint of our Western industrial band. One published estimate puts blankets at 65.0% of a USD 1.12 billion aerogel market, about USD 727.1 million, 12.0% below our figure, a gap explained by battery pads that some studies file under components.

Sources

1. US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) Aspen Aerogels Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (2026)
2. US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) Aspen Aerogels third-quarter 2025 results, exhibit 99.1 (2025)
3. State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register GB 38031-2025 Electric vehicles traction battery safety requirements (2025)
4. State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register GB/T 34336-2017 Nanoporous aerogel composite thermal insulation products (2017)
5. ASTM International ASTM C1728 Standard Specification for Flexible Aerogel Insulation (2025)
6. Aspen Aerogels Aerogel insulation products and subsea installed base (2026)
7. Cabot Corporation Aerogel product forms (2026)
8. JIOS Aerogel Thermal Blade and Singapore plant (2026)