| AVS 65th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Electronic Materials and Photonics Division | Thursday Sessions |
| Session EM+MI+MN+NS-ThM |
| Session: | Nanostructures for Electronic and Photonic Devices |
| Presenter: | Sang M. Han, University of New Mexico |
| Authors: | S. Atiganyanun, University of New Mexico J. Plumley, University of New Mexico K. Hsu, University of New Mexico T.L. Peng, Air Force Research Laboratory S.M. Han, University of New Mexico S.E. Han, University of New Mexico |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Radiative cooling is a process where a material loses heat due to strong emission of photons in the mid-infrared spectrum and enhanced light scattering in the solar region. This process would allow cooling of materials below the ambient temperature under the sun without the use of electricity and therefore would significantly reduce energy consumption. In this work, we have demonstrated a passive radiative cooling of disordered silica microsphere coatings below the ambient temperature while exposed to direct sunlight. To fabricate the coatings, silica microspheres are deposited by colloidal sedimentation method and spray coating method. In the first method, silica colloidal stability is disrupted by addition of KCl solution. The instability causes the colloids to agglomerate and sediment, creating a disordered uniform coating. In the second method, much like commercial painting, the colloidal solution is forced through a spray nozzle and deposited onto a substrate. Scanning electron microscopy show that the resulting structures are disordered without short- or long-range order. Optical measurements also indicate that the coatings produced under optimal conditions have a short transport photon mean free path of approximately 4-8 μm in the solar spectral region. These coatings also exhibit high emissivity above 95% in the atmospheric transparency window. These results suggest strong photon scattering properties in the visible region, while providing a strong thermal emission. Such films would enable effective radiative cooling. To test the cooling performance, we apply this film on top of a black substrate and expose the material to a direct sunlight during the summer in New Mexico. Temperature measurement of the samples shows that our coating reduces the substrate temperature below that of the ambient air by as much as 12 °C during daytime. Similar testing with a commercial solar-rejection paint indicates that the silica coating performs better than the commercial paint by 4.7 °C on average. Additionally the similar technique is used to fabricate disordered coatings made of polystyrene-polymethyl methacrylate microspheres. Outdoor experiments have shown that the polymer coatings perform better than the commercial paint by 5.5 °C on average. Disordered coatings made of microspheres in a paint format will also be discussed.