In the future, this electricity-free tech could help cool buildings in metropolitan areas

EurekAlert  August 5, 2019
An international team of researchers (University of Buffalo, University of Wisconsin, Saudi Arabia, China) fabricated an inexpensive planar polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/metal thermal emitter thin film structure using a fast solution coating process that is scalable for large-area manufacturing. The spectral-selective structure was designed and implemented to suppress the solar input and control the divergence of the thermal emission beam enhancing the directionality of the thermal emissions, so the emitter’s cooling performance was less dependent on the surrounding environment. In tests under different environmental conditions, temperature reductions of 9.5 °C and 11.0 °C in the laboratory and outside environment, respectively, with an average cooling power of ~120 W m–2 was shown for the emitter…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE

The system helps cool its surroundings by absorbing heat from the air inside the box and transmitting that energy through the Earth’s atmosphere into outer space. Credit: University at Buffalo

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