Hydrogel Cools Buildings without Power
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
Hydroceramic Walls Could Cool Buildings By Sweating Like Human Skin
Reliance on air conditioning, howevermagical an innovation, has become a serious environmental burden. Which is why researchers in Barcelona designed a material they say can naturally cool roomsby about 5 degrees Celsius, using a moisture-absorbing polymer that "sweats" much like our own body.
At the core of the idea are hydrogels, magic little boba-like polymers that can expand up to 400 percent when absorbing any moisture around them. Then as the water evaporates, the hydrogels shrink, releasing the water and cooling the area around them.
A hydroceramic material takes hydrogels and sandwiches them between fabric and ceramic to create a kind of membrane-wall that absorbs and sheds moisture, much like skin. The students claim they can reduce energy consumption by 28 percent as well as construction costs when the hydrogels are installed in something inexpensive like clay. Of course at this prototype stage time will tell if that claim proves to be true.
While there are plenty of "passive cooling" concepts for building, this idea can't really be beat when it comes to cheap materials and simplicity.
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