I-Corps: Liquid-Metal Optically Reflective Coatings for Deformable Mirrors

I-Corps：用于可变形镜子的液态金属光学反射涂层

• 批准号: 2019715
• 负责人: Aaron Ohta
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2019715&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Liquid; Metal; Optically; Reflective

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project potentially includes any application that requires mirrors. The coating technology reduces mirror production costs and enables the coating of mirror films over a large area and an increased variety of surfaces. Some examples of possible applications include solar thermal heating for power generation or industrial processes. The use of mirrors in these applications enables the use of clean, renewable energy.The technology developed from this research is an an optically reflective coating using a metal that is liquid at room temperature. The metal is a low-toxicity gallium-based alloy that can be sprayed onto surfaces to form mirrors. The coating technique is simpler than current methods of manufacturing mirrors, allowing the coating of larger surfaces and the coating of a greater variety of materials. An initial prototype shows that the liquid-metal mirror coating has a higher optical reflectivity than that of aluminum. This innovative application of liquid metal along with the simple coating technique is inexpensive, simple, and can be applied on-site using mobile coating units, saving time and money.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.

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力可能包括任何需要镜像的应用程序。该镀膜技术降低了镜子的生产成本，并能够在大面积和更多种类的表面上镀膜。可能的应用的一些例子包括用于发电或工业过程的太阳能热加热。在这些应用中使用镜子可以使用清洁的可再生能源。这项研究开发的技术是使用在室温下为液体的金属的光学反射涂层。这种金属是一种低毒性的镓基合金，可以喷涂到表面上形成镜子。该涂层技术比当前的镜子制造方法更简单，可以涂覆更大的表面并涂覆更多种类的材料。一个初步的原型表明，液态金属反射镜涂层具有较高的光学反射率比铝。这种液态金属沿着的创新应用和简单的涂层技术价格低廉、操作简单，并且可以使用移动的涂层装置进行现场应用，节省了时间和金钱。该奖项反映了NSF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。