Ut-Battelle, Inc.

Kaushik Biswas

Diana Hun

Tolga Aytug

Tomonori Saito

Pengfei Cao

Kai Li

Meghan E Lamm

David L Wood, Iii

Jerald A Atchley

Natasha B Ghezawi

Som S Shrestha

Kelsey M Grady

A fluid storage media includes a plurality of microspheres. Each microsphere includes a porous core with a porous core material and having an exterior surface. A stored fluid is within the porous core. A coating layer covers all of the exterior surface of the porous core. The coating layer includes a coating material which transitions from a first state to a second state, wherein in the first state the coating material is permeable to the stored fluid, and in the second state the material is impermeable to the stored fluid. The coating material in the second state is configured to encapsulate and maintain the stored fluid inside the porous core. A method of making a fluid storage media, a method of delivering a fluid and a method of delivering a biologically active fluid medication to a patient are also disclosed.

Fluid storage media and method of delivering a fluid

An improved system for thermal management is provided. The system includes thermally anisotropic composites coupled with a thermal loop to re-direct, reduce, and shape heat flows through a building envelope, having the potential to (1) significantly reduce envelope-generated heating and cooling loads and (2) provide grid services such as decreasing peak loads and shaping energy use. In one embodiment, the thermal management system includes an anisotropic composite that consists of alternating layers of thermal insulation and thermally conductive materials that are immediately adjacent to each other, including polyisocyanurate foam boards and aluminum sheets. The thermal management system also includes a thermal loop along the long edge or the entire the perimeter of the anisotropic composite, the thermal loop having dynamically controlled or floating temperature that is maintained at lower than an outdoor ambient temperature (for cooling). An interior wall structure is inwardly adjacent to the anisotropic composite.

Thermally anisotropic composites for thermal management in building environments

An insulation medium invention includes a plurality of microspheres. Each microsphere comprises a porous core comprising a porous core material and having an exterior surface, a gas within the porous core, and a coating layer coating all of the exterior surface of the porous core. The coating layer comprises a coating material which transitions from a first state to a second state. In the first state, the coating material is permeable to the gas. In the second state the material is impermeable to the gas. The coating material in the second state is configured to encapsulate and maintain partial vacuum of the gas inside the porous core. In one embodiment, in the second state the coating is impermeable to air. Insulated structures, a method of making an insulation medium, a fluid storage media, and a method of delivering a fluid are also disclosed.

Coated hollow and evacuated insulation spheres (CEIS)

An improved method for manufacturing a continuous self-healing barrier film is provided. The method includes slot-die coating opposing sides of a separator substrate with a curing agent slurry and a curable resin slurry using a single-sided coating line or a tandem coating line. The method also includes sequentially interleaving inner and outer protective layers via a continuous roll-to-roll process to create a multi-layered barrier film. The barrier film can optionally be formed into a barrier envelope, and an insulating core material can be inserted into the barrier envelope to define an enclosure. Evacuating and sealing the enclosure along a perimeter of the barrier envelop forms a self-healing vacuum insulation panel with excellent properties for use as a building material and in refrigeration systems, for example. The barrier film can alternatively be used in the manufacture of tires, roofing, cargo containers, food packaging, and pharmaceutical packaging, for example.

Roll-to-roll slot die coating method to create interleaving multi-layered films with chemical slurry coatings

A self-healing vacuum insulation panel and a method of manufacture are provided. The vacuum insulation panel includes a self-healing, multi-layer barrier film including a separator between a curing agent and a curable resin. Upon damage to the separator, the curing agent penetrates the separator due to a pressure differential across the barrier film and reacts with the curable resin to seal any cuts or punctures. The curing agent and the curable resin can be selected to have long term stability and a short reaction time with no need for external stimuli. As a result, the multi-layer barrier film can retain the internal vacuum and maintain a desirably low thermal conductivity using low-cost, commercially available epoxies and curing agents.

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Knoxville, TN, United States of America

Kaushik Biswas