| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2020 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Functional Nanomaterials 2020: Translating Innovation into Pioneering Technologies
|
| Presentation Title |
Engineering Mesoporous Silica for Superior Optical and Thermal Properties |
| Author(s) |
Danielle Butts, Patricia McNeil, Sarah Tolbert, Yongjie Hu, Laurent Pilon, Bruce Dunn |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Danielle Butts |
| Abstract Scope |
Heat loss through buildings’ windows accounted for ~30% of total commercial and residential building energy consumption in 2013, constituting 3.5% of primary U.S. energy consumption annually.[1] Window material innovations, however, have largely been limited to thin films due to the required levels of optical transparency. We have found that ambiently dried silica aerogel monoliths can simultaneously achieve high optical transparency and low thermal conductivity, proving to be an ideal candidate for energy saving windows. Synthesis conditions were controlled such that ~70% porous silica monoliths can achieve a narrow pore size distribution, < 15 nm, of interconnected mesopores which leads to transmittance > 97% and low thermal conductivity (0.04 W/mK). A mechanism of phonon-boundary scattering based on pore size and fractal dimension is proposed to justify the low effective thermal conductivity measured.
1. ARPA-E SHIELD program, “Single-Pane Highly Insulating Efficient Lucid Designs,” (U.S. DOE, 2016). |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Supplemental Proceedings volume |