I-Corps: Ultra-clear, transparent aerogel material developed to enable the next generation of energy efficient windows

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是实现下一代具有成本效益的、节能的窗户。缺乏负担得起的节能窗户导致热不适，美国人每年冬天在直接能源损失上浪费超过320亿美元。建议的超级隔热纳米多孔玻璃可以使窗户的隔热性比目前安装的产品高50%，回收期比类似的性能解决方案快5倍。基于二氧化硅气凝胶技术，使用固体材料作为透明绝缘层的方法还增加了窗口寿命，减少了所需材料总量，从而实现了更可持续的生产线。这种材料及其超级绝缘性能的商业化也有可能节省能源，并改善其他行业的可持续性，如交通运输和可再生能源发电。这个i-Corps项目是基于多年来对超透明绝缘气凝胶的基本开发。提出的气凝胶材料是一种纳米多孔玻璃，由95%的空气被困在如此小以至于看不见的特征中。然而，这些“看不见的”纳米孔使这种材料的重量只有玻璃的一小部分，绝缘性是空气的两倍。即使是薄的一层(只有几毫米厚)也可以减少高达50%的热量损失，还可以为外来气体和降低的压力提供更稳定的绝缘支撑层。与商业上可获得的二氧化硅气凝胶不同，这种超透明材料被开发为极其透明(透明度甚至高于玻璃)。这是通过仔细研究和定制二氧化硅气凝胶的纳米结构来实现的，以达到视觉清晰度和透过率高于98%。材料特性支持的模拟性能表明，我们的气凝胶可以达到0.20BTU/h/ft2/F的U因子，同时仍然足够清晰。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to enable the next generation of cost-effective, energy efficient windows. The lack of affordable, energy efficient windows results in thermal discomfort and Americans wasting over $32 billion each winter in direct energy losses. The proposed super-insulating nanoporous glass can enable windows to be 50% more insulating than 80% of currently installed products, with payback periods 5 times faster than similar performance solutions. Based on silica aerogel technology, the approach of using a solid material as a transparent insulating layer also increases window lifetime and reduction in total materials needed, leading to a more sustainable product line. Commercialization of this material and its super-insulating properties also has potential energy savings and sustainability improvements to other industries as well, such as transportation and renewable energy generation. This I-Corps project is based on years of fundamental development of ultra-clear, insulating aerogel. The proposed aerogel material is a nanoporous glass made up of 95% air trapped inside features so small they are invisible. However, these "invisible" nanopores allow the material to be a fraction of the weight of glass and twice as insulating as air. Even a thin layer (only a few millimeters thick) reduces heat losses by up to 50%, and, also provides a more stable, insulating support layer for exotic gasses and reduced pressures. Unlike commercially available silica aerogels, this ultra-clear material was developed to be extremely transparent (transparency higher than even glass). This was achieved by carefully studying and tailoring the nanostructure of the silica aerogel to reach visual clarity and transmittance higher than 98%. Modeled performance supported by material characterization indicate our aerogel can achieve a U-factor of 0.20 BTU/h/ft2/F while still being sufficiently clear.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.