Chemical Engineering October 2016 - 12

mers, polyurethane and
PMMA - poly(methyl
methacrylate) - like
two interwoven fishing
nets made of different
materials. " The key innovation
is that this
transparent
coating
is
able to stabilize very
fragile nanomaterials resulting
in ultra-durable
nanotextures with numerous
real-world applications, "
Tricoli says.
The coating exhibits
great resistance to
abrasion, maintaining
superhydrophobic
water contact angles
and a self-cleaning effect
with sliding angles
below 10 deg for up to
120 continuous abrasion
cycles. It also has
excellent chemical and
photo stability. According
to Tricoli, several
companies have already
expressed interest in the
new material.
❏
This coating makes glass into a solar panel
A
layered coating that acts as an organic
semiconductor material allows
building windows to generate electricity
from direct, indirect, shaded,
diffused and reflected sunlight, as well as from
artificial light. Developer SolarWindow Technologies
Inc. (Columbia, Md.; www.solarwindow.com)
has designed and developed the
system for ease-of-manufacturing, says John
Conklin, CEO of SolarWindow. " Our organic
semiconductor material can be adapted for
application with many types of existing coating
technologies, including spraying, rolling,
and other application processes, " he explains.
The SolarWindow coating consists of an
organic polymer layer that contains lightharvesting
organic molecules, along with elements
of other species, sandwiched between
electrically conducting layers. As each layer is
coated onto the glass surface, it undergoes a
curing step at ambient conditions. When finished,
light can be absorbed by the organic
coating, while the conducting layers govern
a one-way flow of electrons using a proprietary
Intra-Connection System that creates
a discreet pattern of microscopic channels.
These channels allow for the efficient transport
of electricity within SolarWindow toward
the surface of the glass. From there, the company's
" invisible wire " technology uses microscopic
conductors to convey electrons from
the surface of the window to the wiring system
of a building.
" The organic layer can be tuned for color, "
says Conklin, so that the coating remains
transparent to light in the visible wavelength
range, while harvesting other wavelengths
of light necessary to generating electricity,
he says.
Tall urban buildings have a small amount
of roof space for conventional solar panels,
but possess a large area of " vertical real estate "
that can be used to generate electricity,
Conklin points out. " We are looking to offset
30-50% of a skyscraper's energy demand
with this technology, " he adds, " and our
modeled time to payback for the investment
falls within one year. "
The company is currently in a product development
phase, and hopes to begin commercial-scale
production of coated glass for
windows by the end of 2017.
n
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OCTOBER 2016
06.09.2016 07:41:08
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Chemical Engineering October 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering October 2016
