We are experiencing an end of winter and a spring, especially warm in our country. Some temperatures higher than usual that accentuate the problems caused by the drought and that they put us on alert for what may be coming in summer.
In a country, traditionally punished by summers of extreme temperatures, it seems essential to achieve good home insulation to protect us from high temperatures. And to all the elements that we already know, one is now added that, although it may not be so popular, can be just as effective. It is about plasmonic painting and we are going to tell you what it consists of and how it can help you refresh your home.
The secret is in something that is not seen
monterfrio
On this page we have talked about how good insulation from the outside can be achieved, when a work is carried out, using tricks and homemade systems, with systems that do not always work, using thermal blinds or blinds or opting for a passive house. AND to all this is now added the use of paint.
If you live in Spain, more specifically in the south, you may be used to walking among its white towns. Houses in openwork with white Lime-based paint, often used to reflect heat and insulate the house from the high temperatures outside. AND something like this, but improved, is what a team of researchers has achieved from the University of Central Florida (UCF).
have achieved a paint without pigments that allows to insulate the house from the outside temperature thanks to its insulating capacity. And what’s more, it does so, without having to rely exclusively on the color white.
A piece of news that has been echoed in the scientific journal Science Advances and commented on by our colleagues from Decosphere, is based on the colors of nature and on how they are generated without having to use artificial pigments.
Image | science.org
The author of the article, Debashis Chanda, has explained that “The range of colors and hues in the natural world is astounding: from flowers, birds, and butterflies to underwater creatures like fish and cephalopods.” The development is based on taking advantage of the structural colorthat “It is the main color-generating mechanism in several extremely living species, in which the geometric arrangement of two colorless materials produces all the colors. In contrast, with the artificial pigment, new molecules are needed for each color present”.
Image | science.org
With all these wickerwork, the research team has achieved a method to make paint of different colors without having to use pigmentswhich means that they can also dispense with highly toxic materials.
Unlike conventional paint, which is based on pigments using artificially synthesized molecules, this insulating paint or also called plasmonic paintis based on the use of materials such as el or aluminum oxide, as well as a water-soluble biodegradable polymer, all solutions that are also non-toxic.
Plasmonic paint, unlike traditional paints, does not use toxic components, taking care of the environment and our health, and it is also lighter.
The key is in this case in invisible molecules for our eyes. It all happens at the nanometer level and instead of using new molecules for each color, here the geometric arrangement of two colorless materials such as aluminum and its oxide that are responsible for producing all colors are used.
Any street in Granada
The result is a painting that, according to its discoverers, has the insulating capacity and to reduce the absorption of solar radiation of the building in which it is applied, both for interior and exterior surfaces,
In addition, this paint has more advantages. On the one hand it is more durable, because by not using pigmentation it avoids the deterioration of the pigments. In addition, it allows to reflect the entire infrared spectrum and therefore insulates better from heat. According to the researchers, this means that it can lower the temperature and lower the building by between 10 and 15º compared to what is obtained with traditional paints.
Via | The Spanish
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Images | Jose Antonio and Science.org