SBIR Phase I: Defect-free manufacturing of ultra-clear monolithic silica aerogels for insulated glass units

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目推动了超透明、超绝缘气凝胶的开发。中空玻璃制造商需要改进现有的双层玻璃窗制造。仅在北美，住宅中空玻璃单元就代表着20亿美元的市场。目前，美国的窗户每年冬天都会损失200亿美元的能源。在玻璃之间加一层气凝胶的双层玻璃窗可以实现极大的隔热效果，因为气凝胶厚度仅为3毫米，就可以使产品的隔热性比充气的双层玻璃窗高50%，可与三层玻璃窗产品相媲美。采用该技术可在2030年前节约1.2万亿BTU的能源，具有成本效益。这项工作还扩展到其他市场，如用于制冷和烤箱的透明门，以及用于过程热的太阳能热接收器，这些也是节能和可行的市场应用的重要机会。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在通过关注两个主要风险来解决在窗户中空玻璃单元中集成超级隔热气凝胶的关键技术障碍。首先，该项目将进一步提高气凝胶材料的光学清晰度。人眼对透明介质中的雾霾和缺陷高度敏感，尽管已经实现了满足住宅窗户市场最低要求的光学清晰度，但仍需进一步改进和测试。通过优化溶液-凝胶配方减少雾度，并通过开发混合和成型策略消除表面缺陷的根本原因，将提高透明度。其次，广泛采用还需要在中空玻璃单元中直接加入气凝胶。将开发出在不降低光学清晰度的情况下将气凝胶直接连接到玻璃上的粘合方法，这将使处理变得简单，并融入到现有的中空玻璃单元制造中。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project advances the development of ultra-clear, super-insulating aerogels. Insulated glass manufacturers have a need for improvements to existing double-pane window manufacturing. Residential insulated glass units represent a $2 billion market in North America alone. Currently, windows in the U.S. lose $20 billion dollars in energy each winter. A double-pane window with a sheet of aerogel between glass panes can achieve a vastly improved insulation, as an aerogel thickness of just 3 mm enables a product 50% more insulating than gas-filled double-pane windows, comparable to triple-pane products. Adoption could enable cost-effective energy savings of 1.2 quadrillion BTUs by 2030. This work also extends to other markets, such as transparent doors for refrigeration and ovens, and solar thermal receivers for process heat, which also represent significant opportunities for energy savings and viable market applications.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to address key technical barriers for integration of super-insulating aerogels in window insulated glass units by focusing on two main risks. First, the project will further improve the optical clarity of the aerogel materials. The human eye is highly sensitive to haze and defects in transparent media, and although optical clarity meeting minimum requirements for the residential window market has been achieved, further improvement and testing are needed. Clarity will be improved by reducing haze through solution-gelation recipe optimization and by removing the fundamental causes of surface defects through development of mixing and molding strategies. Second, widespread adoption also requires straightforward incorporation of aerogel into insulated glass units. Bonding methods to attach aerogels directly to glass without reducing optical clarity will be developed, which will enable simple handling and incorporation into existing insulated glass unit manufacturing.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.