Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Global warming is a critical modern-day problem, and carbon dioxide levels have surpassed atmospheric concentrations of 420 ppm. The roadmap to net zero emissions proposed by the International Energy Agency highlights improving energy efficiency as an important part of eliminating emissions by 2050. An effective method of improving energy efficiency for a wide range of applications is to use passive solar technologies and radiative cooling, which function without consuming energy. The objectives of the research are to develop the next generation of photothermal and radiative cooling surfaces and structures and to demonstrate their utility in energy-related applications. The research focuses on understanding the structure-property relationship between the nano- and micro-scale features of surfaces and their optical and radiative properties. The surfaces and structures will be designed to outperform existing state-of-the-art photothermal and radiative cooling materials by exhibiting high-quality optical properties, being robust and durable, and amenable to large-scale production at reasonable costs, while also have a low environmental impact. The research will develop photothermal and radiative cooling surfaces and structures for different applications. Nanostructured photothermal materials with high broadband absorbance over the solar spectrum will be developed to harness solar thermal energy. Radiative cooling materials that emit radiation over the atmospheric window will be developed for passive cooling applications. The radiative cooling and photothermal materials will be used to cool and heat solid CO2 adsorbents, which will enable passive carbon capture via temperature swing adsorption. Advanced radiative cooling structures that cool objects from both their top and bottom surfaces will be fabricated and tested for atmospheric water harvesting applications. Selective emitters for solar thermophotovoltaic systems will be made and tested under vacuum conditions. Repeated and extended testing will be conducted to evaluate their durability. Furthermore, life cycle assessment and techno-economic assessments will be performed to evaluate the environmental impacts and life-cycle costs of the developed materials. The significance of the research will be the development of photothermal and radiative cooling surfaces and structures that exhibit good optical performance and durability and affordability. The ultimate objective is to strive towards robust films, structures and surfaces that can be deployed on a broad-scale. The structure-property relationship of the surfaces and structures will be investigated and their stability under long-term testing conditions will be measured. The outcome of this research will be novel surfaces and structures that utilize solar thermal energy and radiative cooling to improve the energy efficiency in different applications which will make a contribution towards achieving net-zero emissions.