Using nano-engineered surfaces to control optical properties for solarthermal management
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Authors
Wang, Xuanjie
Issue Date
2022-12
Type
Electronic thesis
Thesis
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Mechanical engineering
Alternative Title
Abstract
This doctoral thesis has investigated the nanostructure geometry effect on the material’soptical properties for solar-thermal management. This study includes two aspects: solar-thermal
desalination and radiative heating and cooling. Both parts include investigating the identification
of materials, fabrication of nano/microstructures, and a proof-of-concept demonstration.
For solar-thermal desalination, prior experimental studies have focused mainly on the
broadband solar absorber. In this thesis, the spectral selective absorber is investigated in detail by
combining experimental and computational techniques to achieve high efficiency of solar-thermal
desalination. A computational model is developed and validated to understand the nanostructure
geometry effects of nickel-infused alumina on solar-thermal energy conversion. Then, a
manageable fabrication technique using electrochemical deposition is studied to control the
nanostructure geometry achieving spectral-selective optical behavior. Finally, a scalable approach
involving the use of wicking materials interfaced with the spectral selective absorber is
demonstrated for desalination. This achieves enhanced efficiency compared with the broadband
absorber.
For radiative heating and cooling, previous studies on daytime radiative cooling typically
focused on materials with fixed and cooling-optimized optical properties. In this thesis, the porous
polymeric structures with dynamically switchable optical properties have been studied in detail.
First, a computational model is developed and validated to investigate the geometry effects of
porous polymeric fibers on high-performance solar reflection. Secondly, a fabrication technique
using the electrospinning process is studied to control fiber geometry achieving high solar
reflection. Lastly, a switchable method for solar-thermal regulation is proposed using porousxiv
polymeric layers integrated with a spectral selective absorber. A significant energy reduction is
predicted when applied to buildings as roofing materials.
Description
December2022
School of Engineering
School of Engineering
Full Citation
Publisher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY