Thermal management

Quantum computing guides development of transparent window coating to reduce energy costs

By Lisa McDonald / December 6, 2022

Passive radiative cooling systems typically are implemented by applying special coatings to the walls or roof of a building. But windows play a significant role in heat transfer too. University of Notre Dame researchers used a quantum computing-assisted active learning scheme to develop a new high-performance transparent radiative cooling coating for windows.

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Preparing for winter—hollow silica particles could form the basis of next-generation thermal insulation systems

By Lisa McDonald / November 4, 2022

Hollow silica particles exhibit lower thermal conductivities than current common thermal insulation materials, while also being easier and cheaper to fabricate than state-of-the-art insulating aerogels. Two recent studies demonstrate the work being done to develop stable and scalable hollow silica particle-based composites for next-generation thermal insulation systems.

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Disorders of protection—high-entropy oxides for environmental barrier coatings

By Jonathon Foreman / October 1, 2021

Many researchers are working to uncover alternatives to yttria stabilized zirconia for use as environmental barrier coatings. High-entropy oxides are among the classes of materials being explored, and two papers in Journal of the American Ceramic Society explore different high-entropy oxide systems.

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A concentrated effort—researchers develop ceramic lattice structures for high-temperature heat exchangers

By Lisa McDonald / June 29, 2021

In concentrated solar power systems, higher operating temperature leads to greater efficiency—if the thermal energy is properly managed. Heat exchangers are one option for thermal management, and researchers in Switzerland and Italy explored designing ceramic lattice structures for use in such devices.

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Strategies for designing stretchable electronics with advanced thermal management

By Lisa McDonald / June 18, 2021

The expanded range of motion available to stretchable electronics makes it difficult to maintain stable thermal conductance under large deformation. Two researchers from China describe several aspects of thermal management strategies that must be considered and offer several possible solutions that are worth further investigation.

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Porous volumetric ceramic burners increase oven energy efficiency

By Lisa McDonald / November 24, 2020

Though gas ovens are considered more energy efficient than electric ovens, they still face challenges with dissipation of heat into the environment. Porous volumetric ceramic burners are a combustion technology that may improve heat transfer in gas ovens, and researchers in Germany investigated the technology’s heat transfer mechanisms to better illuminate its potential.

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Small-scale patterning: Thermal scanning probe lithography allows precise nanocutting of 2D materials

By Lisa McDonald / October 6, 2020

Common lithographic techniques used to etch patterns onto a surface run into difficulties when cutting 2D materials. Researchers at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne developed a thermal scanning probe lithography method that can cut the smallest reported feature for a direct cutting method to date.

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Addressing the energy harvesting storage gap—ceramic matrix composites contain corrosive materials in thermal energy storage

By Jonathon Foreman / October 2, 2020

Thermal energy storage technologies are one way to store energy generated from renewable sources. But producing materials that can contain the high-temperature and corrosive materials integral to this technology is an ongoing area of research. Two recent ACerS journal articles explore methods of fabricating C/C-SiC CMCs for use as container materials.

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Engineered to perfection: The science of chocolate and designing a better chocolate chip

By April Gocha / September 4, 2020

Although chocolate is a simple pleasure for many people around the world, the science behind chocolate as a food and as a material is deliciously complex. Now an industrial designer has re-engineered the chocolate chip to maximize taste and texture, giving it optimal surface area with angular features.

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Modeling teaches old dogs new tricks: Viscosity predictions from dilatometry and DSC

By Jonathon Foreman / July 31, 2020

Determining viscosity of a glass through experiment is a slow and expensive process. In two recent papers published in JACerS, Penn State professor John Mauro and his colleagues show how it can be predicted much easier by using dilatometry and DSC to calculate parameters for a glass viscosity model that was proposed in 2009.

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