PneumoGel
Properties
PneumoGel is a petroleum-based polymer gel formulated to persistently maintain a high volume of bubbles of inert air, which gives it a foam-like quality. This enables a relatively small volume of liquid gel to fill a much larger area once aerated. PneumoGel is a dilatant non-Newtonian fluid: In "normal use" (more on that later), the Gel remains pliable, with a texture somewhere between Sculpey Ultralight and hair gel; But when the Gel experiences a sudden shear force, it temporarily solidifies. How quickly the Gel will return to its pliable state can be calibrated partially within the gel's chemical formula itself, but also by aerating the gel with more or less air - the more air, the longer the Gel will take to return to its pliable state. This calibration is usually determined by the context of the Gel's use. PneumoGel has very high chemical cohesion and low adhesion; this means that it is not likely to stick to other objects or compounds, but sticks to itself so strongly that specialized tools are necessary to divide a portion of Gel (affectionally called a "loaf" by manufacturers) into multiple portions (unofficially called "slices"). PneumoGel does not cure, like most other petroleum-based foams and gels. Long-term exposure to open air and/or UV light will eventually cause the material to degrade, loosing its cohesion until it is little more than an inert liquid oil. By default the Gel is slightly blueish and transparent, but manufacturers include added colors to make the Gel more visible and identifiable.
The Gel is considered largely non-toxic, though repeated direct exposure can cause irritation such as contact dermatitis or vomiting/diarrhea in the case of ingestion. Some studies in mice have suggested that repeated ingestion of the Gel can lead to serious conditions such as GI cancers, but the mice were on a prolonged diet of 30% PneumoGel by the time statistic significance could be reached. It was deemed incredibly unlikely that a human with access to PneumoGel would consume it as 30% of their diet, but just to be safe most manufacturers include an additive that makes the Gel unpalatable.
Uses
PneumoGel was originally invented, patented, and produced by the DuFont Industrial Materials Company in 1958, in order to address a number of issues with currently existing hydraulic fluids. PneumoGel's high cohesion meant that it never leaked; minor cracks and flaws in hydraulic machinery would not result in leaked fluids that could damage other parts, and even catastrophic failures rarely resulted in total loss of the PneumoGel - resulting in fewer fluid refills and replacements. The Gel's low adhesion meant that it caused very little wear to its containers, gliding smoothly through hoses and cylinders, and that it was exceedingly easy to clean up a Gel "spill". The Gel's inclusion of aeration reduced the weight of the final product, and therefore reduced wear on the equipped machine.
That the Gel was dilatant - and the benefit of such - was discovered during a test of the PneumoGel in an antique hydraulic press that was in quite a state of disrepair. Several repetitions into the test, one of the press's hydraulic cylinders violently ruptured, but the PneumoGel in that cylinder remained in place and functional because the portion of the Gel exposed to and by the explosive rupture had solidified, while the rest of the Gel, still protected by the intact parts of the cylinder, maintained its hydraulic fluidity. The machine was able to complete that particular press with relatively few flaws, but when the pressure was finally released, the Gel portion contained in the ruptured cylinder returned to its pliable state and eventually flowed out of the cylinder. The DuFont Company would then test and market this property of PneumoGel as an enhancement to both the productivity and safety of the equipped machine.
Initially, PneumoGel was primarily used in industrial hydraulic machinery and became so high in demand that several other industrial materials companies reverse-engineered their own formulas. Many of these formulas resulted in a gel that was more or less viscous and had longer or shorter "recovery periods" (the time it takes the solidified gel to return to its pliable state). Some of these formulas were unsuitable for the heavy machinery PneumoGel was being used in, but found applications in other fields, such as small-scale industrial and home equipment and medical devices. The success of these "knock-off" formulas induced DuFont to develop their own secondary varieties of PneumoGel, such as PneumoGel Home, PneumoGel Car & Truck, and PneumoGel Med. While many of the "knock-offs" persisted, DuFont's versions of the different formulas were generally considered superior and dominated the market. Though "PneumoGel" is the brand name of the DuFont Company's products, the name is synonymous with all similar products from any brand (like Chap-Stick = lip balm, Kleenex = facial tissues, or Weed-Whacker = string trimmer).
Secondary Innovations
PnuemoGel (and it's knock-offs) revolutionized the scalability and longevity of hydraulic equipment and technologies where hydraulics had been previously ill-suited. Of particular importance was the development, by the government research organization PAX, of fine-tuned hydraulic "muscle" that could enable prosthetic limbs to move just like organic limbs, revolutionizing the field of prosthetics and cybernetics. The body armor and security industries also leveraged PneumoGel's dilatant properties to great effect.
Eventually, PneumoGel would become a primary enabler of the development and production of androids by the United States military.
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