Thanks for your thoughts.
The analyst downgrade on CBT makes little sense and seems to be based on the sale of their supermetals unit.
<THE ANALYSIS: "Cabot is one of the most intriguing structural transformation stories in chemicals, but near-term uncertainties likely trump the growth levers," Alexander wrote in a note to investors. The analyst said Cabot shares could continue to fall and recommended that investors wait three to six months for more attractive prices before buying them.>
It's almost the opposite of what Zack's recent opinion:
finance.yahoo.com
CBT sells for very reasonable multiples as you pointed out and was recently illustrated in a Motley Fool article.
fool.com
And CBT's forecast as of July:
'We continue to see solid demand in our end markets,' said Patrick Prevost, CEO. 'The tire and automotive sectors are returning to their long-term regional growth rates and the foreseeable demand should ensure ongoing high utilization rates of our assets. There continues to be strong demand growth for high performance electronics, such as smartphones and tablets that will benefit our Supermetals business,' he added.
While aerogel has been around for almost a century, the range of products that it is being applied to continues to increase. For example, residential uses as in skylights is a rather recent development. From the website on my link in my prior message:
There are a variety of applications for which aerogels are used.
- Commercially, aerogels have been used in granular form to add insulation
Thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of the effects of the various processes of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat is the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature...
to skylights. - Transparent silica aerogel would be very suitable as a thermal insulation material for windows, significantly limiting thermal losses of buildings. One research team has shown that producing aerogel in a weightless
Weightlessness
Weightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration away from the acceleration that defines an inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall. The physical path of an inertial trajectory depends on the presence or absence of...
environment can produce particles with a more uniform size and reduce the Rayleigh scattering
Rayleigh scattering
Rayleigh scattering is the elastic scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light, which may be individual atoms or molecules. It can occur when light travels through transparent solids and liquids, but is most prominently seen in...
effect in silica aerogel, thus making the aerogel less blue and more transparent. - Its high surface area leads to many applications, such as a chemical adsorber for cleaning up spills (see adsorption
Adsorption
Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, biomolecules or molecules of gas, liquid, or dissolved solids to a surface. This process creates a film of the adsorbate on the surface of the adsorbent. It differs from absorption, in which a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid...
). This feature also gives it great potential as a catalyst or a catalyst carrier. - Aerogel particles are also used as thickening agent
Thickening agent
Thickening agents, or thickeners, is the term applied to substances which increase the viscosity of a solution or liquid/solid mixture without substantially modifying its other properties; although most frequently applied to foods where the target property is taste, the term also is applicable to...
s in some paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. We may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
s and cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
. - Aerogels are being tested for use in targets for the National Ignition Facility
National Ignition Facility
The National Ignition Facility, or NIF, is a research project and facility whose mission is to achieve nuclear fusion with high energy gain in the laboratory, and to support nuclear weapon maintenance and design by studying the behavior of matter under the conditions found within nuclear weapons...
. - Aerogel performance may be augmented for a specific application by the addition of dopants, reinforcing structures, and hybridizing compounds. Using this approach, the breadth of applications for the material class may be greatly increased.
- Commercial manufacture of aerogel 'blankets' began around the year 2000. An aerogel blanket is a composite
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or microscopic scale within the finished...
of silica aerogel and fibrous reinforcement that turns the brittle aerogel into a durable, flexible material. The mechanical and thermal properties of the product may be varied based upon the choice of reinforcing fibers, the aerogel matrix, and opacification additives included in the composite. - NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an executive branch agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's civilian space program and aeronautics and aerospace research...
used aerogel to trap space dust particles aboard the Stardust
Stardust (spacecraft)
Stardust is a 300-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on February 7, 1999 to study the asteroid 5535 Annefrank and collect samples from the coma of comet Wild 2. The primary mission was completed January 15, 2006, when the sample return capsule returned to Earth...
spacecraft. The particles vaporize on impact with solids and pass through gases, but can be trapped in aerogels. NASA also used aerogel for thermal insulation
Thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of the effects of the various processes of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat is the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature...
of the Mars Rover
Mars Rover
A Mars rover is an automated motor vehicle which propels itself across the surface of the planet Mars after landing.Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to...
and space suit
Space suit
A space suit is a complex system of garments, equipment and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space...
s. - The US Navy is evaluating aerogel undergarments as passive thermal protection for divers.
- Aerogels are also used in particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the elementary subatomic constituents of matter and radiation, and their interactions. The field is also called high energy physics, because many elementary particles do not occur under ambient conditions on Earth...
as radiators in Cherenkov effect detectors. ACC system of the Belle detector, used in the Belle Experiment
Belle experiment
The Belle experiment is a particle physics experiment conducted by the Belle Collaboration, an international collaboration of more than 400 physicists and engineers investigating CP-violation effects at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.The...
at KEKB, is a recent example of such use. The suitability of aerogels is determined by their low index of refraction, filling the gap between gases and liquids, and their transparency and solid state, making them easier to use than cryogenic liquids or compressed gases. Their low mass is also advantageous for space missions. - Resorcinol- formaldehyde aerogels (polymers chemically similar to phenol formaldehyde resin
Phenol formaldehyde resin
Phenol formaldehyde resins include synthetic thermosetting resins such as obtained by the reaction of phenols with formaldehyde. Sometimes the precursors include other aldehydes or other phenol. Phenolic resins are mainly used in the production of circuit boards...
s) are mostly used as precursors for manufacture of carbon aerogels, or when an organic insulator with large surface is desired. They come as high-density material, with surface area about 600 m2/g. - The first residential use of aerogel as an insulator is in the Georgia Institute of Technology's Solar Decathlon
Solar Decathlon
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an international competition that challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house...
House where it is used as an insulator in the semi-transparent roof. - Metal-aerogel nanocomposites can be prepared by impregnating the hydrogel with solution containing ions of the suitable noble
Noble metal
Noble metals are metals that are resistant to corrosion and oxidation in moist air, unlike most base metals. They tend to be precious, often due to their rarity in the Earth's crust...
or transition
Transition metal
The term transition metal has two possible meanings:*The IUPAC definition states that a transition metal is "an element whose atom has an incomplete d sub-shell, or which can give rise to cations with an incomplete d sub-shell." Group 12 elements are not transition metals in this definition.*Some...
metals. The impregnated hydrogel is then irradiated with gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays , is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . They are produced by high energy sub-atomic particle interactions in natural processes and man made mechanisms...
s, leading to precipitation of nanoparticles of the metal. Such composites can be used as catalysts, sensors, electromagnetic shielding
Electromagnetic shielding
Electromagnetic shielding is the process of reducing the electromagnetic field in a space by blocking the field with barriers made of conductive and/or magnetic materials. Shielding is typically applied to enclosures to isolate electrical devices from the 'outside world' and to cables to isolate...
, and in waste disposal. A prospective use of platinum-on-carbon catalysts is in fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy from a fuel into electric energy. Electricity is generated from the reaction between a fuel supply and an oxidizing agent. The reactants flow into the cell, and the reaction products flow out of it, while the electrolyte remains...
s. - Aerogel can be used as a drug delivery system due to its biocompatibility
Biocompatibility
Biocompatibility is related to the behavior of biomaterials in various contexts. The term may refer to specific properties of a material without specifying where or how the material is used , or to more empirical clinical success of a whole device in...
. Due to its high surface area and porous structure, drugs can be adsorbed from supercritical CO2. The release rate of the drugs can be tailored based on the properties of aerogel. - Carbon aerogels are used in the construction of small electrochemical double layer supercapacitors. Due to the high surface area of the aerogel, these capacitors can be 1/2000th to 1/5000th the size of similarly rated electrolytic capacitors. Aerogel supercapacitors can have a very low impedance compared to normal supercapacitors and can absorb or produce very high peak currents. At present, such capacitors are polarity-sensitive and need to be wired in series if a working voltage of greater than about 2.75V is needed.
- Dunlop has recently incorporated aerogel into the mold of its new series of tennis racquets, and has previously used it in squash racquets.
- Chalcogels have shown promise in absorbing the heavy metal pollutants mercury, lead, and cadmium from water.
- Aerogel is used to introduce disorder into superfluid
Superfluid
Superfluidity is a state of matter in which the matter behaves like a fluid without viscosity and with infinite thermal conductivity. The substance, which looks like a liquid, will flow uncontrollably, and also will be at exactly the same temperature throughout itself...
helium-3
Helium-3
Helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research...
. - Arms control experts speculate it is used to transform radiation into pressure in multistage nuclear weapons.
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