They are totally translucent. However, they prevent ultraviolet light and maintain the interior temperature unchanged. How do windows block heat and what coating do they use? The coating can reduce the interior temperature by up to 5 to 7 degrees compared to conventional windows. Can be incorporated into existing windows or cars. And it can reduce air conditioning cooling costs by more than a third in hot climates.
“The angle between the sunlight and the window always changes,” Tengfei Luo said in a statement. He is a professor of Energy Studies at the University of Notre Dame and leader of the study. “Our coating maintains functionality and efficiency regardless of the position of the sun in the sky.”
Quantum computing
The window coverings used in many recent studies are optimized for certain conditions. Light entering a room should be at a 90 degree angle. But often, the sun’s rays enter at oblique angles through vertically installed windows. Luo made a transparent window coating by stacking ultrathin layers of silica, alumina and titanium oxide. They were added to a glass base.
A micrometer-thick silicon polymer was added to improve the cooling power of the structure. It reflects thermal radiation through the atmospheric window and into outer space. How did you mix the layers in an optimal configuration? They managed to maximize the transmission of visible light while minimizing the passage of heat. The team used quantum computing, or more specifically, quantum annealing.
Their model produced a coating that maintained transparency and reduced the temperature by 5.4 to 7.2 degrees Celsius in a model room. Even when the light was transmitted at a wide range of angles.
blocking the sun
Details of heat-blocking windows are described in Cell Reports Physical Science.
“Like polarized sunglasses, our coating decreases the intensity of incoming light. But unlike sunglasses, our coating remains clear and effective even when you tilt it at different angles,” Luo said.
