With all the crazy storms, flooding, issues of hail and the like, there’s no denying that climate change is real. And because of all these weather changes, even cooling and heating homes have become something to consider.
All this added heat has made air conditioners more popular than ever, but the need for more of them has also increased. In fact, studies show that in the next three decades, the expectation of air conditioning requirements will be more than triple in number. However, a new study shows that new paint coatings on buildings and structures may help easily cool them down.
While contractors and house builders used to use the whitest white paint to fend off heat, now, there may be a new way to keep your home cool. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have created an iridescent, plant-based film that has the same ability as this whitest white paint, except in color.
Copying the nanostructures of a beetle’s exoskeleton, which are made of cellulose, capture light and sent it bouncing around and separating them into a variety of wavelengths. This is what makes them look like they are shimmering colors of greens and purples.
According to Quinchen Shen, the postdoctoral researcher at Cambridge who was working on the study told Fast Company, “The usual way to generate a color is dye, but dye will absorb light and heat up, and that counteracts the cooling effect.”
They presented the study findings at the American Chemical Society where they shared how usually, colors make surfaces hotter which is why most coatings are white to make things cooler. So during their study, the team used structural color rather than dye, which is the same phenomenon that makes soap bubbles or beetle shells look iridescent. They also reported that when light hits the tiny structures on the surface, they bounce around and reflect ‘different wavelengths from different angles to create shimmering colors.’
One major effect when these nanostructures are pasted to the outside of a house, it keeps it ‘7.2°F cooler during the day and 20°F cooler during the night.’
Because climate change has become such a huge issue, scientists have been using their time to come up with new ways to conserve energy but still cool homes. While ultra-white pain, which would work to keep homes cooler, it can be damaging to the eyes of those seeing it.
But how Shen explains this new color-generated paint, rather than absorbing the heat or reflecting it off actually, it’s the new invention of the thin nanostructure film that’s made using cellulose below the thin film of white that can generate more than 120 watts of cooling power, which is the same as some air conditioners.
Shen added, “We wanted to make it cheap. That’s why we used cellulose-based materials. Cellulose nanocrystals can be extracted from wood or cotton. Cellulose is the most abundant polymer in nature.”
The hope is that by painting these films in a variety of colors and textures can also coat cars and walls of houses to aid in energy saving. And while it may not be able to replace air-conditioning completely, it could still help lower electricity bills. And all these new and interesting paints will surely add character with all the psychedelic and iridescent colors coming out with even just the slightest touch of sunshine.
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