A Self-Assembled 2D Thermofunctional Material for Radiative Cooling
[EN] The regulation of temperature is a major energy-consuming process of humankind. Today, around 15% of the global-energy consumption is dedicated to refrigeration and this figure is predicted to triple by 2050, thus linking global warming and cooling needs in a worrying negative feedback-loop. He...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión enviada para evaluación y publicación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2019 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/218134 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/218134 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Radiative cooling Self-assembled single-layer crystals Silica Thermofunctional materials Ultra-broadband thermal emitters |
| Resumo: | [EN] The regulation of temperature is a major energy-consuming process of humankind. Today, around 15% of the global-energy consumption is dedicated to refrigeration and this figure is predicted to triple by 2050, thus linking global warming and cooling needs in a worrying negative feedback-loop. Here, an inexpensive solution is proposed to this challenge based on a single layer of silica microspheres self-assembled on a soda-lime glass. This 2D crystal acts as a visibly translucent thermal-blackbody for above-ambient radiative cooling and can be used to improve the thermal performance of devices that undergo critical heating during operation. The temperature of a silicon wafer is found to be 14 K lower during daytime when covered with the thermal emitter, reaching an average temperature difference of 19 K when the structure is backed with a silver layer. In comparison, the soda-lime glass reference used in the measurements lowers the temperature of the silicon by just 5 K. The cooling power of this simple radiative cooler under direct sunlight is found to be 350 W m when applied to hot surfaces with relative temperatures of 50 K above the ambient. This is crucial to radiatively cool down devices, i.e., solar cells, where an increase in temperature has drastic effects on performance. |
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