SBIR Phase I: Defect-free manufacturing of ultra-clear monolithic silica aerogels for insulated glass units

SBIR 第一阶段：用于中空玻璃装置的超透明整体二氧化硅气凝胶的无缺陷制造

• 批准号: 2037715
• 负责人: Kyle Wilke
• 金额: $ 25.6万
• 依托单位: AEROSHIELD MATERIALS, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-02-15 至 2022-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2037715&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Defect; free; manufacturing

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project advances the development of ultra-clear, super-insulating aerogels. Insulated glass manufacturers have a need for improvements to existing double-pane window manufacturing. Residential insulated glass units represent a $2 billion market in North America alone. Currently, windows in the U.S. lose $20 billion dollars in energy each winter. A double-pane window with a sheet of aerogel between glass panes can achieve a vastly improved insulation, as an aerogel thickness of just 3 mm enables a product 50% more insulating than gas-filled double-pane windows, comparable to triple-pane products. Adoption could enable cost-effective energy savings of 1.2 quadrillion BTUs by 2030. This work also extends to other markets, such as transparent doors for refrigeration and ovens, and solar thermal receivers for process heat, which also represent significant opportunities for energy savings and viable market applications.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to address key technical barriers for integration of super-insulating aerogels in window insulated glass units by focusing on two main risks. First, the project will further improve the optical clarity of the aerogel materials. The human eye is highly sensitive to haze and defects in transparent media, and although optical clarity meeting minimum requirements for the residential window market has been achieved, further improvement and testing are needed. Clarity will be improved by reducing haze through solution-gelation recipe optimization and by removing the fundamental causes of surface defects through development of mixing and molding strategies. Second, widespread adoption also requires straightforward incorporation of aerogel into insulated glass units. Bonding methods to attach aerogels directly to glass without reducing optical clarity will be developed, which will enable simple handling and incorporation into existing insulated glass unit manufacturing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目推动了超透明、超隔热气凝胶的开发。中空玻璃制造商需要改进现有的双窗格窗户制造。 仅在北美，住宅隔热玻璃市场就代表了 20 亿美元的市场。目前，美国的窗户每年冬天会损失 200 亿美元的能源。在玻璃板之间添加气凝胶片的双层玻璃窗可显着提高隔热效果，因为气凝胶厚度仅为 3 毫米，产品的隔热性能比充气双层玻璃窗高出 50%，与三层玻璃产品相当。到 2030 年，采用该技术可以实现 1.2 万亿 BTU 的经济高效节能。这项工作还扩展到其他市场，例如用于制冷和烤箱的透明门，以及用于过程热量的太阳能热接收器，这也代表了节能和可行的重大机会。该小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目旨在通过关注两个主要风险，解决将超隔热气凝胶集成到隔热窗玻璃单元中的关键技术障碍。首先，该项目将进一步提高气凝胶材料的光学透明度。人眼对透明介质的雾度和缺陷高度敏感，尽管光学清晰度已经达到了满足住宅窗户市场最低要求的要求，但还需要进一步改进和测试。通过溶液凝胶配方优化减少雾度，并通过开发混合和成型策略消除表面缺陷的根本原因，从而提高透明度。其次，广泛采用还需要将气凝胶直接融入中空玻璃单元中。将开发将气凝胶直接附着到玻璃上而不降低光学透明度的粘合方法，这将使处理简单并融入现有的中空玻璃单元制造中。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势进行评估，被认为值得支持以及更广泛的影响审查标准。