This scientific advancement describes a novel aerogel material with promising properties for radiative cooling applications
The aerogel is surprisingly made from gelatin and DNA.
It surpasses 100% solar reflectance, leading to exceptional radiative cooling. This means it reflects more than all the sunlight hitting it.
The material is biodegradable, making it an environmentally friendly solution.
Under high solar radiation, the material can cool the surrounding temperature by 16 degrees Celsius.
The combination of DNA and gelatin forms a unique layered structure.
This structure with its specific fluorescence and phosphorescence properties is responsible for the high reflectance and cooling effect.
The average visible light reflectance is an impressive 104.0%.
Aerogels are a class of synthetic porous ultralight material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component for the gel has been replaced with a gas, without significant collapse of the gel structure
Uses
Thermal Insulation: Due to their excellent insulating properties, aerogels are ideal for applications where minimizing heat transfer is crucial like Building insulation, Aerospace applications
Filtration: The high surface area of aerogels makes them excellent candidates for filtration applications like Capture airborne particles, Water filtration
Aerogels are still under development, and some applications face challenges like high production costs
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