Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of California

Purdue Research Foundation

University System of Maryland

Evelyn N Wang

Sungwoo Yang

Ryan Enright

Gang Paul Chen

Lee A Weinstein

Bikramjit S Bhatia

Lin Zhao

Thomas Alan Cooper

Shankar Narayanan

Elise M Strobach

Ian Salmon McKay

Rong Xiao

Hyunho Kim

David M Bierman

Nenad Miljkovic

Xuanhe Zhao

Svetlana Boriskina

Shaoting Lin

Sameer R Rao

Ari Samuel Umans

Marin Soljacic

Daniel John Preston

Andrej Lenert

Xiaopeng Huang

James Loomis

Kenneth McEnaney

Shalabh Chandra Maroo

Young Suk Nam

Matthew McCarthy

Yangying Zhu

Kyle Wilke

Omar M Yaghi

Jeffrey Hastings Lang

Jeffrey Paul Youngblood

Yichen Shen

Hadi Ghasemi

Reza Ghodssi

Stuart A Jacobson

Ivan Celanovic

Hiroyasu Furukawa

Eugene A Kapustin

Gang Chen

Daniel Kraemer

John G Brisson

Rodney W Trice

James N Culver

Walker Chan

Xiansen Li

Rodrigo Orta Guerra

Arny Leroy

Selcuk Yerci

Han-Jae Jeremy Cho

Rishi Raj

Nenad Milikovic

Shankar Narayan

Konstantinos Gerasopoulos

Kuang-Han Chu

Zhengmao Lu

Dion Savio Antao

Youngsup Song

Bikram Bhatia

Xiangyu Li

Lenan Zhang

Chad T Wilson

Olivia Brandt

Described herein are window retrofits including a monolithic silica aerogel slab having (i) an average haze value of <5% as calculated in accordance with ASTM standard D1003-13 and (ii) a U-factor of <0.5 BTU/sf/hr/° F., and a transparent polymer envelope sealed at an internal pressure of ≤1 atmosphere, wherein the monolithic silica aerogel slab is encapsulated in the transparent polymer envelope. The monolithic aerogel slab can have a transmittance>94% at 8 mm thickness. The window retrofit can be bonded to a glass sheet.

Energy efficient soundproofing window retrofits

A radiative cooling device can include a reflector positionable to permit operation during daylight hours.

Passive radiative cooling during the day

Condensation can be an important process in both emerging and traditional power generation and water desalination technologies. Superhydrophobic nanostructures can promise enhanced condensation heat transfer by reducing the characteristic size of departing droplets via a surface-tension-driven mechanism. A superhydrophobic surface can include nanostructures of a metal oxide having further surface modification.

Superhydrophobic nanostructures

Devices and methods for fabrication of a multiscale porous high-temperature heat exchanger for high-temperature and high-pressure applications are disclosed. The heat exchanger can include a core with macrochannels formed in a checkerboard pattern to facilitate alternative flow of working fluid having hot and cold temperatures between adjacent macrochannels. Each macrochannel can include a two-dimensional microchannel array that further distributes flow throughout the heat exchanger to enhance heat transfer and mechanical strength without significant pressure drop penalty. The heat exchanger can further include a header integrated therewith to distribute working fluid flowing through the heat exchanger through the outlets such that it flows evenly therethrough. Methods of fabricating heat exchangers of this nature are also disclosed.

Devices and methods for fabrication of components of a multiscale porous high-temperature heat exchanger

A silica aerogel having a mean pore size less than 5 nm with a standard deviation of 3 nm. The silica aerogel may have greater than 95% solar-weighted transmittance at a thickness of 8 mm for wavelengths in the range of 250 nm to 2500 nm, and a 400° C. black-body weighted specific extinction coefficient of greater than 8 m/kg for wavelengths of 1.5 μm to 15 μm. Silica aerogel synthesis methods are described. A solar thermal aerogel receiver (STAR) may include an opaque frame defining an opening, an aerogel layer disposed in the opaque frame, with at least a portion of the aerogel layer being proximate the opening, and a heat transfer fluid pipe in thermal contact with and proximate the aerogel layer. A concentrating solar energy system may include a STAR and at least one reflector to direct sunlight to an opening in the STAR.

Solar thermal aerogel receiver and materials therefor

Described herein are window retrofits including a monolithic silica aerogel slab having (i) an average haze value of &#x3c;5% as calculated in accordance with ASTM standard D1003-13 and (ii) a U-factor of &#x3c;0.5 BTU/sf/hr/&#xb0; F., and a transparent polymer envelope sealed at an internal pressure of &#x2264;1 atmosphere, wherein the monolithic silica aerogel slab is encapsulated in the transparent polymer envelope. The monolithic aerogel slab can have a transmittance &#x3e;94% at 8 mm thickness. The window retrofit can be bonded to a glass sheet.

A surface with selective wetting properties is described.

Omniphilic, omniphobic, switchable, and selective wetting surfaces

An adsorption system can be used as part of a climate control system in a vehicle or in any other space requiring heating or cooling. The adsorbent system can include an enclosure, a plurality of layers arranged in a stack inside the enclosure, and a vapor channel inside the enclosure.

Adsorption system

Lubricant infused surfaces (LIS) can be uncoated high-surface-energy solids, thereby eliminating the need for unreliable low-surface-energy coatings and resulting in LIS repelling the lowest surface tension impinging fluid (butane, &#x3b3;&#x2248;13 mN/m) reported to date.

Lubricant infused surfaces

A silica aerogel having a mean pore size less than 5 nm with a standard deviation of 3 nm. The silica aerogel may have greater than 95% solar-weighted transmittance at a thickness of 8 mm for wavelengths in the range of 250 nm to 2500 nm, and a 400&#xb0; C. black-body weighted specific extinction coefficient of greater than 8 m/kg for wavelengths of 1.5 &#x3bc;m to 15 &#x3bc;m. Silica aerogel synthesis methods are described. A solar thermal aerogel receiver (STAR) may include an opaque frame defining an opening, an aerogel layer disposed in the opaque frame, with at least a portion of the aerogel layer being proximate the opening, and a heat transfer fluid pipe in thermal contact with and proximate the aerogel layer. A concentrating solar energy system may include a STAR and at least one reflector to direct sunlight to an opening in the STAR.

A two-phase microchannel heat sink can be a fluid channel including a bottom wall including a superhydrophilic surface with microstructures and a side wall including a surface that is hydrophobic relative to the superhydrophilic surface of the bottom wall. When heat flux is applied to the fluid channel, a liquid film on the bottom wall is maintained and nucleation of boiling occurs only on the side wall.

Enhanced flow boiling heat transfer in microchannels with structured surfaces

Heat exchange structure. A hydrophilic, thermally conductive porous medium includes nanostructures formed substantially uniformly throughout the porous medium providing a balance of capillary and viscous forces to self-regulate a liquid-vapor contact line. A suitable porous medium is copper. A method for making the structure is also disclosed.

Bi-directional porous media phase change heat exchanger

A water-harvesting system can operate with a material that can take up and release water with minimum energy requirements and powered by low-grade energy sources, such as sunlight, in order to potentially allow its deployment into households, especially those located in sunny regions. A water-harvesting method and system can include vapor adsorption using a porous metal-organic framework. In certain embodiments, the porous metal-organic framework can include metal-organic framework in ambient air with low relative humidity, typical of the levels found in most dry regions of the world.

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting device

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Evelyn N Wang