SBIR Phase II: Development of long service life vacuum insulation composites

这个小型企业创新研究二期项目的重点是建立全面的生产参数，质量控制程序，操作测试和商业化的尖端分隔真空复合材料。该项目在冷链航运、仓储、建筑保温、汽车、航空航天等先进市场具有广泛的影响和商业潜力。第一个应用是在冷链航运行业，用于包装和储存温度敏感材料。新一代薄（小于1英寸），重量轻，高度绝缘（R值25-30），耐用，使用寿命长的盒子将满足这一领域的关键需求。对温度敏感的产品，如疫苗、血液、器官和诊断标本，使用绝缘容器运输，即将开发的新材料将允许更长的运输时间，更高的抗冲击性和可重复使用性。冷链运输市场包括红十字会、血库、药店、临床试验托运人、诊断中心、生命科学材料供应商和批发分销商。美国每年在生命科学包装方面的市场潜力估计为2.91亿美元。由此产生的材料在永久和临时结构以及各种运输应用中也具有巨大的潜力。第一阶段工作的成功完成带来了成本效益（预期成本降低了一个数量级），更强（十倍于聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料的抗冲击性），重量轻，薄（小于1英寸），高度绝缘（r16 -22），分隔真空复合材料。此外，还展示了一种独特的加工能力，即真空复合材料可以在现场切割和尺寸，而不会降低热性能，这是目前影响真空绝缘板（vip）的一个问题。在第二阶段将对开发的复合材料进行优化，以实现目标绝缘等级、成本和使用寿命特性。热性能，机械特性和操作性能将评估其在冷链运输和建筑/结构绝缘中的应用。该团队还将在冷链运输中验证使用这些材料制造的箱子，以验证血液制品、器官和/或药品的安全运输。根据第二阶段的工作，预计这些材料将取代石油基泡沫材料和真空隔热板，成为这些市场中高性能和经济的解决方案。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is focused on establishing full-scale production parameters, quality control procedures, operational testing and commercialization of cutting-edge compartmentalized vacuum composites. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in cold chain shipping, storage, building insulation, automobiles, aerospace and other advanced markets. The first application is in the cold chain shipping industry, for packaging and storage of temperature sensitive materials. A new generation of thin (less than 1"), light weight, highly insulated (R value 25-30), durable, and long service life boxes will meet a critical need in this area. Temperature-sensitive products such as vaccines, blood, organs, and diagnostic specimens are shipped using insulated containers, and the new materials to be developed will permit longer shipping duration, higher impact resistance, and re-usability. The cold chain shipping market includes the Red Cross, blood banks, pharmacies, clinical trial shippers, diagnostic centers, life science material providers and whole sale distributors. The annual United States market potential in life sciences packaging is estimated at $291 million. The resulting materials also have significant potential for uses in permanent and temporary structures, and in a variety of transportation applications.Successful completion of the Phase I work has resulted in cost-effective (an order of magnitude lower expected cost), stronger (ten times the impact resistance of Styrofoam), lightweight, thin (less than 1"), highly-insulating (R 16-22), compartmentalized vacuum composite materials. An exclusive machining capability was also demonstrated, whereby vacuum composites can be cut and sized on-site without degradation in thermal performance, an issue which affects current vacuum insulation panels (VIPs). Optimization of the developed composites to achieve targeted insulation rating, cost, and service life characteristics will be conducted during Phase II. Thermal performance, mechanical characteristics and operational performance will be evaluated for their application in cold chain shipping and in building/structural insulation. The team will also validate boxes fabricated using these materials in cold chain shipping to verify safe transportation of blood products, organs, and/or pharmaceuticals. Based on the Phase II work, it is anticipated that these materials will be poised to replace petroleum-based foam materials and vacuum insulation panels as a high-performance and economical solution in these markets.