The large panes of glass installed to enjoy the beautiful scenery outside the window will definitely reduce the heat insulation and cold protection function. Although the heat loss can be improved through double-glazed windows, it still cannot provide the same heat insulation effect as the insulation wall. The University of Colorado team recently proposed a new method that can effectively improve the thermal insulation performance of double-layer glass by adding transparent airgel made of wood.
Airgel (Aerogel) is made by replacing the position of liquid in the gel with gas. It is known to have a strong thermal insulation function. In recent years, a lot of research has tried to add this material to various thermal insulation applications, such as high temperature resistant firefighting jackets, Martian bricks, insulated windows, etc.
Physicists and material scientists from the University of Colorado now also want to use airgel to improve the thermal insulation capacity of double-glazed windows, so that the house can maintain a beautiful appearance while achieving a certain thermal insulation effect.
In order to make aerogels, the University of Colorado team extracted nanofibers from wood cellulose and soaked them in water, then took out the wood nanofibers and soaked them in an ethanol solution. After absorbing saturation, they put them in a pressurized oven and heated them to replace the ethanol with air. Finally, the transparent nanofibers are coated with a waterproof material to prevent condensation when placed between glass plates.
After completion, the research team filled the space between the double-glazed glass panels with the new type of airgel, and confirmed that in addition to providing more thermal insulation, it can also increase the distance between the double-glazed glass, which can further improve the thermal insulation effect. Tests have shown that leaving a 2.5cm gap between the glass provides the same insulating capacity as an insulating wall.
The research team’s tests also showed that the airgel’s visible light transmittance is 97-99%, and the haze coefficient is less than 1%, which is better than ordinary glass.
The new paper was published in the journal Nature Energy.
(Source of the first image: pixabay)
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