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Thin, flexible, light-absorbent material for energy and stealth applications
http://jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release.sfe?id=2116[font face=Serif][font size=5]Thin, flexible, light-absorbent material for energy and stealth applications[/font]
[font size=3]San Diego, Calif., Feb. 1, 2017 -- Transparent window coatings that keep buildings and cars cool on sunny days. Devices that could more than triple solar cell efficiencies. Thin, lightweight shields that block thermal detection. These are potential applications for a thin, flexible, light-absorbing material developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego.
The material, called a near-perfect broadband absorber, absorbs more than 87 percent of near-infrared light (1,200 to 2,200 nanometer wavelengths), with 98 percent absorption at 1,550 nanometers, the wavelength for fiber optic communication. The material is capable of absorbing light from every angle. It also can theoretically be customized to absorb certain wavelengths of light while letting others pass through.
Materials that “perfectly” absorb light already exist, but they are bulky and can break when bent. They also cannot be controlled to absorb only a selected range of wavelengths, which is a disadvantage for certain applications. Imagine if a window coating used for cooling not only blocked infrared radiation, but also normal light and radio waves that transmit television and radio programs.
By developing a novel nanoparticle-based design, a team led by professors Zhaowei Liu and Donald Sirbuly at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering has created a broadband absorber that’s thin, flexible and tunable. The work was published online on Jan. 24 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1613081114[font size=3]San Diego, Calif., Feb. 1, 2017 -- Transparent window coatings that keep buildings and cars cool on sunny days. Devices that could more than triple solar cell efficiencies. Thin, lightweight shields that block thermal detection. These are potential applications for a thin, flexible, light-absorbing material developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego.
The material, called a near-perfect broadband absorber, absorbs more than 87 percent of near-infrared light (1,200 to 2,200 nanometer wavelengths), with 98 percent absorption at 1,550 nanometers, the wavelength for fiber optic communication. The material is capable of absorbing light from every angle. It also can theoretically be customized to absorb certain wavelengths of light while letting others pass through.
Materials that “perfectly” absorb light already exist, but they are bulky and can break when bent. They also cannot be controlled to absorb only a selected range of wavelengths, which is a disadvantage for certain applications. Imagine if a window coating used for cooling not only blocked infrared radiation, but also normal light and radio waves that transmit television and radio programs.
By developing a novel nanoparticle-based design, a team led by professors Zhaowei Liu and Donald Sirbuly at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering has created a broadband absorber that’s thin, flexible and tunable. The work was published online on Jan. 24 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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