Cranking up the air conditioner is one way to keep buildings cool, but it guzzles energy. Passive materials can regulate interior temperatures more efficiently, and now scientists in South Korea have developed a new coating that keeps glass much cooler, while still being transparent.
Windows are great for filling rooms with natural light, but they’re also a major portal for messing with temperature. When it’s cold out, about 30% of the interior heat can escape through the windows, while in hotter times about 76% of the sunlight that hits windows enters as heat.
That’s why it’s important to plug this gap, ideally without ruining what makes windows appealing in the first place. A new coating, created by researchers at POSTECH and Korea University, could help do just that.
The team designed a material that can radiate heat away while allowing visible light to pass through. It’s made up of three layers that have different roles. The topmost layer is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which emits far-infrared radiation, which is […]
If my memory is correct, there are coatings under development which will both cool buildings and act as solar power generators. These coating can be placed on the surfaces of cars, and on buildings to help in the sustainable generation of energy. If they come to market, they too, can be game changers.