Optical Design of Silica Aerogels for On‐Demand Thermal Management

Abstract

AbstractSilica aerogels, a type of porous material featuring extra low density and thermal conductivity, have drawn increasing interest from both academia and industry owing to their excellent thermal insulation performance. However, thermal insulation is always the single consideration when silica aerogels are used for thermal management. In this study, the on‐demand thermal management (ODTM) of silica aerogel with either passive thermal insulation, passive heating, or passive cooling in different environments is revealed. The ODTM behavior of silica aerogels can be simply fulfilled through their optical property variations such as solar light transparency and infrared emissivity, which are controllable via the microstructures of the building blocks and surface composition design. Robust solar heating of 25 °C higher than the ambient in the daytime and sub‐ambient cooling of 7 °C at night is achieved with the traditional transparent silica aerogel. Interestingly, sub‐ambient cooling of 5 °C in the daytime and a warmer state on cold nights is achieved by modifying its solar transmittance and infrared emissivity. This study guides a comprehensive understanding of the thermal management behavior of silica aerogels and leads to ODTM applications of silica aerogels by tailoring their optical and thermal conductivity properties.