SBIR Phase I: Paintable Solar Reflective Coatings for Cool Roof Retrofits

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的广泛影响和商业潜力将为商业市场带来一个新的“结构色”涂料家族，作为有毒颜料和染料的替代品，以及控制光流的新范例。该项目旨在通过一种涂层来提高建筑的能源效率，这种涂层可以在安装期间或在原始设备制造商层面应用于住宅屋顶材料。该技术是一种自下而上的方法来形成反射材料，通过在不改变立面外观的情况下进行改造，与实践状态下的冷屋顶替代品相比，具有显著的优势。由此产生的产品将迅速增加冷屋顶技术的采用，因为它的性能得到改善，而美观性却没有损失，这是房主关注的一个关键问题，从而节省了大量的能源。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）一期项目旨在解决基于电刷嵌段共聚物的光子晶体商业化相关的关键风险和技术挑战。由于原材料的低成本和大分子自组装“自下而上”制造的简单性，这形成了一个理想的大面积介电镜先进材料平台。为了实现商业应用，这些反射性有机材料的化学成分需要针对外部涂层应用进行优化，以抵抗自然风化条件（如紫外线辐射、雨水、热循环）的降解；此外，配方必须优化标准应用。这项拟议的活动将开发新的合成路线、稳定策略和第一个制造工艺来展示这些独特的先进材料。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will bring a new family of "structural color" coatings to the commercial marketplace as an alternative to toxic pigments and dyes, as well as a new paradigm for controlling the flow of light. This project aims to improve the energy efficiency of buildings through a coating that can be applied to residential roofing materials during installation or at the original equipment manufacturer level. The technology is a bottoms-up approach to the formation of reflective materials offering significant advantages over state-of-practice cool-roofing alternatives by retrofitting without changing the facade's appearance. The resulting product will rapidly increase adoption of cool-roof technologies due to improved performance without aesthetic loss, a key homeowner concern, leading to substantial energy savings.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses key risks and technical challenges associated with commercializing brush block copolymer based photonic crystals. This forms an ideal advanced materials platform for large-area dielectric mirrors due to the low costs of the raw materials and the simplicity of "bottoms-up" fabrication by macromolecular self-assembly. To realize commercial applications, the chemistries for these reflective organic materials need to be optimized for exterior coating applications to resist degradation from natural weathering conditions such as ultraviolet radiation, rain, thermal cycling; furthermore, the formulation must be optimized for standard application. This proposed activity will develop new synthetic routes, stabilization strategies, and the first manufacturing processes to demonstrate these unique advanced materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.