University of Colorado Boulder

Engineers Yao Zhai, Sabrina N. David, Yaoguang Ma, Dongliang Zhao, Runnan Lou, Gang Tan, Ronggui Yang, and Xiaobo Yin created a glass-polymer hybrid metamaterial that can cool any object it covers, even in direct sunlight, with no energy or water consumption. The metamaterial’s structure—glass microspheres on a polymer film with a thin silver coating—allows it to reflect incoming solar energy while also allowing the surface to shed its own heat. The material is easy to produce in large quantities, allowing for many potential commercial uses. According to Gang Tan, associate professor at the University of Wyoming, 10 to 20 square meters of this material on a rooftop could cool an entire single-family home in the summer. Other potential applications include supplementary cooling for power plants and efficiency improvements for solar panels.

Engineers Yao Zhai, Sabrina N. David, Yaoguang Ma, Dongliang Zhao, Runnan Lou, Gang Tan, Ronggui Yang, and Xiaobo Yin created a glass-polymer hybrid metamaterial that can cool any object it covers, even in direct sunlight, with no energy or water consumption. The metamaterial’s structure—glass microspheres on a polymer film with a thin silver coating—allows it to reflect incoming solar energy while also allowing the surface to shed its own heat. The material is easy to produce in large quantities, allowing for many potential commercial uses. According to Gang Tan, associate professor at the University of Wyoming, 10 to 20 square meters of this material on a rooftop could cool an entire single-family home in the summer. Other potential applications include supplementary cooling for power plants and efficiency improvements for solar panels.