Sending Waste Heat into Space

Nov-27-14 Researchers have created a material that could help keep buildings cooler by radiating the heat into space.

The technology, called photonic radiative cooling, is based on a coating of seven layers of silicon dioxide and hafnium dioxide on top of a thin layer of silver. The layers are different thicknesses, allowing the material's internal structure to be 'tuned' to radiate the sun's infrared rays into space without warming the air around the buildings. In tests, the coating reflected 97 percent of the incoming sunlight—which kept the material about 9°F cooler than the surrounding air.

The team envisions the material as the first step in using the coldness of space as a way to dump excess heat. Says Stanford Professor Shanhui Fan: "What we've done is to create a way that should allow us to use the coldness of the universe as a heat sink during the day."

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[GIZMAG.COM]
[ENGINEERING.STANFORD.EDU]

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