High Thermal Emittance Research Articles

Solar energy harvester based on polarization insensitive and wide angle stable UWB absorber for UV, visible and IR frequency range

This paper proposes an ultrawideband electromagnetic absorber operating in the infrared, visible light, and ultraviolet regime. The overall structure of the proposed absorber is made up of multiple square rings arranged in a symmetrical configuration. The absorber consists of three layers, the ground layer made of nickel, the intermediate substrate layer is made of polyimide and the top layer is constructed from nickel. The overall unit cell dimension of 119 nm × 119 nm × 31 nm has been proposed for the optimum performance of the absorber. It has absorption (A) of more than 90 % for the frequency range of 131.59 THz to more than 4500 THz. The proposed absorber is polarization-independent. The absorber shows more than 70 % absorption for incident angle<65° in both transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes. The absorber covers the range of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet frequencies. Using this proposed absorber, high solar absorption efficiency (ηA) of 96.84 % and high thermal emission efficiency (ηE) of 90.19 %, 92.54 %, 95 % and 96.64 % are achieved at 1000K, 1500K, and 2500K & 3500 K, respectively. Due to the ultrawideband characteristic of the proposed design in the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet regimes, the proposed design can be used as a highly efficient absorber in many applications such as photovoltaics, photo-detectors, thermal emitters, IR (Infrared) detectors, cloaking, solar energy harvesting, sensing, and UV (Ultra-Violet) protection.

High-Entropy Boride HfZrTiTaMoB: Promising Materials for Solar Selective Absorption Coatings in Photothermal Applications.

High-entropy borides (HEBs), as a category of high-entropy materials, exhibit remarkable thermal stability, a broad compositional range, and finely tuned electronic structures, leading to an excellent functional performance. Despite these advantages, their application in photothermal materials has rarely been reported. Herein, we employ a HEB target with multiple transition-metal elements to develop solar selective absorption coatings (SSACs) with simple and scalable bilayer structures for photothermal applications. The performance of these coatings is enhanced by designing different antireflective layers. The designed SSACs, both stainless steel (SS)/HEB/Al2O3 and SS/HEB/Si3N4, exhibit high absorptivity and low thermal emittance (α/ε = 90.0%/8.6% and 91.6%/8.6% at 82 °C). Thermal stability tests show that the absorbers could withstand annealing at 500 °C for 5 h, while maintaining a good optical performance. Long-term thermal stability tests indicate that the coatings retained good spectral selectivity after annealing at 400 °C for 100 h. Notably, the coatings demonstrate advanced photothermal conversion efficiencies of 88.3% and 89.9%, respectively, at 400 °C under 100 sun. In practical simulated solar irradiation experiments, the absorber achieves temperatures of about 85 °C under 1 sun, surpassing the performance of commercial nonselective absorbing coatings. Additionally, the absorbers maintained a stable photothermal performance through six on-off cycle experiments. In summary, the designed SSACs based on HEBs exhibit excellent optical properties and efficient photothermal conversion at moderate temperatures. This study highlights the significant benefits and potential advancements in solar energy collection offered by HEB-based SSACs.

Field evaluation of the efficacy of passive radiative cooling infrastructure: A case study in Phoenix Arizona

Radiative properties of shade structures affect their surface temperatures, sensible heat fluxes and longwave and shortwave radiation exchange. In fact, structures with high solar reflectance and thermal emittance have the potential to remain below ambient air temperatures, convecting sensible heat from the air to the surface and then radiating that heat to space—a sort of radiant heat pump.We explore cooling benefits of urban surfaces with high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance radiative cooling films through a field measurement campaign in Phoenix Arizona, USA. The tested films have solar reflectance and selective thermal emittance (in wavelengths 8–13 μm) close to 95 %. We applied films in both before-after and control-test experimental designs on thin metal roofs of park shade structures. We measured surface temperatures, surface heat fluxes, upward- and downward-welling longwave and shortwave radiation, and local weather conditions.Results demonstrate the ability of radiant cooling films to reduce surface temperatures on hot days below ambient air temperatures. Test surfaces with cooling films were an average of 7 °C cooler than control shelter surfaces over the diurnal cycle, reducing sensible heat fluxes into the environment by up to 80 %, and lowering mean radiant temperatures for pedestrians using the shelters by more than 3 °C. It was also observed that the sum of the net reflected shortwave and emitted longwave radiation over the diurnal cycle can exceed the total incident longwave and shortwave radiation on the surface, demonstrating the ability of these materials to radiatively “pump” heat out of the city.

Plasma-assisted particle deposition manufacturing: Multi-functional integrated superhigh temperature thermal protection coating on niobium alloy

Multi-functional integrated thermal protection coating is a promising approach for the high-temperature protection of niobium alloy while facing multiple extremely harsh environments, while hard to avoid the complex/multi-step preparation process. Particularly, a simultaneous demonstration of multi-functional features is still challenging. Herein, a novel HfC-HfO2-MoSi2-Yb2O3 multi-functional layer has been fabricated on the NbSi2 layer surface via plasma-assisted particle deposition manufacturing, endowing the modified silicide-based multilayer composite coating with multiple thermal protective characteristics. The composite coating shows excellent hot corrosion resistance with a corrosion gain of 3.56 mg cm−2 after 200 h, the intact coating structure after three thermal cycles of fast rise and fall from 25 °C–1800 °C, and a high thermal emissivity of above 0.9, as well as the good high-temperature oxidation resistance and ablation resistance demonstrated in our previous study. The superior multiple thermal protective characteristics are attributed to the synergistic effects of multi-functional particles. HfC particle provides the anti-ablation skeleton, MoSi2 particle provides more SiO2 glass phase and seals defects, Yb2O3 particle acts as the stabilizer of glass network, and matching vibration absorption of multiphase/multi-chemical bonds endow the high emissivity of coating. Our work paves the new way and provides an inexpensive and environmentally friendly approach for the development of a new class of multi-functional integrated thermal protection materials.

Solar-Adaptive Cooling Blocks Composed of Recycled Fabric.

Radiative cooling technologies have had a significant impact on advancing carbon neutrality efforts by significantly improving the passive cooling efficiency. The tandem of conduction and radiation enables solar-adaptive radiative cooling through the insulating effect of materials along with solar absorption, which affects the thermal state of materials and enhances radiative thermal transfer from the surface under solar irradiation. This enhancement is achieved by utilizing the porous polymeric structure of materials, which facilitates improved conduction pathways along with solar reflectance, while maintaining the effective emission of thermal radiation. In this particular scenario, blocks, which were made of recycled fibers, offer a great opportunity as solar-adaptive cooling materials, enabling their easy deployment for cooling applications. Herein, we have fabricated a porous block using fiber wastes that combines strong solar reflectance (92%) at the 1 μm region and high thermal infrared emittance (∼75%) at the 10 μm region. The combination of effective solar reflection and thermal infrared emission allows the fiber block to achieve a high cooling performance of approximately 68 W/m2 under solar irradiation. In addition, the fiber block works effectively for insulation during the night, thereby enhancing its heat retention capabilities. The economic and environmental advantages of the fiber block make it a cost-competitive and sustainable choice for near-market cooling technologies. This design is anticipated to expand the practical application range of passive cooling.

Variable Emissivity Materials for Thermal Radiators: Methods for Characterizing Thermochromic Infrared Surfaces

Thermochromic infrared surfaces have temperature-dependent emissivity spectra that enable radiators to passively respond to changes in the thermal environment. For spacecraft thermal-control applications, these surfaces transition between a high and low thermal emissivity to radiate heat when hot and retain heat when cold. This enhanced temperature-regulation functionality is derived from the intrinsic temperature-dependence of the thermochromic material but introduces complications in thermo-optic characterization and thermal system models. Variable emissivity materials (VEMs) necessitate a new set of thermo-optic characteristics to comprehensively describe the thermal emissivity as a function of both the instantaneous surface temperature and its time history. This research examines the methods of characterizing the thermal emissivity of VEMs using both spectroscopy (an indirect measurement) and radiative calorimetry (a direct measurement). The data are fit to a reduced-order logistic model that captures the primary design features, including the asymptotic emissivity levels and the transition temperature, as well as nonidealities such as transition rates and hysteresis. Together, these tools guide the design of novel VEMs, introduce a standardized set of material descriptors, and enable the representation of VEMs in thermal system models.

Influence of the flame jet on heat loss and thermal efficiency of lean burn pre-chamber natural gas engine with various geometrical combustion chambers

Due to relatively high thermal efficiency and low NOx emission, the pre-chamber type lean burn natural gas engine for cogeneration is expected to be spread rapidly in the near future. To offer a guidance for designing the pre-chamber natural gas engines, in the present study, the influence of the flame jets on combustion process and thermal efficiency of pre-chamber type lean burn natural gas engine was investigated with various pre-chamber orifice diameters and angles and piston bowl shapes by numerical simulation. The presented results showed that when the orifice diameter is smaller, it results in higher heat loss with the stronger gas flame jets impinging on piston top and cylinder liner walls, but the higher degree of constant volume heat release can be also obtained. Consequently, there is no significant difference in the thermal efficiency for these four orifice diameters. Increasing the angle of the orifice and the depth of the piston bowl can avoid the heat loss caused by the early impact of flame jets on the piston top wall. In addition, compared to the diameter of piston bowl, the depth of piston bowl, which is related to the distance from the orifice to the piston bowl, should have more effect on the combustion process and thermal efficiency. For wider orifice angle, the heat loss was also increased, particularly to cylinder head. Finally, the optimal thermal efficiency obtained by balancing heat loss and the degree of constant volume heat release is 44.73%.

Synthesis and evaluation of thermal and optical properites of Fe2AlB2 phase alloy for thermal control in space applications

Ternary laminated Fe2AlB2 alloy holds its significance in displaying high strength, damage tolerance, oxidation and radiation cracking resistance. It is synthesized through a pressureless sintering route from elemental powders. Synthesis of Fe2AlB2 is studied from two different molar ratios (2/1/2 and 2/1.5/2) and three different sintering temperatures (1100°C, 1150 °C and 1200 °C). Phase analysis is carried out through an x-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, thermal decomposition, thermal conductivity and absorbance spectra are examined. Fe2AlB2 begins to decompose at 1169 °C into borides and aluminides. Thermal conductivity and diffusivity of Fe2AlB2 decreases with increase in temperature. Lower solar reflectivity and high thermal emittance of Fe2AlB2 implies the thermal control and optical behavior that can be expected for extreme space environments.

Solar to Thermal Energy Conversion Potential of Carbon Nanotubes Modified Copper Oxide Nanocomposite Thin Film Solar Selective Absorbers

AbstractCarbon nanotubes modified copper oxide nanocomposite (CNTs–CuO NC) selective absorbers were prepared through a sol‐gel method by varying weight percentage of CNTs and coated on aluminum (Al) substrates using a dip coating technique to form thin films (TFs). The surface morphology of CNTs–CuO NC TF examined by scanning electron microscopy disclosed linear arrangement of CNTs–CuO NC TF with average particle diameter of 200±30 nm. The X‐ray diffractometer analysis of the CNTs–CuO NC TF revealed the presence of CuO in monoclinic crystal structure. Moreover, the X‐ray diffractometer analysis disclosed good crystalline quality of the CNTs–CuO NC TF and average crystallite size of the CuO and CNTs–CuO NC TF was found to be 69.38 and 85.94 nm, respectively. The energy dispersive X‐ray spectrum of CNTs–CuO NC TF ascertained the presence of Cu, O and C elements with atomic weight proportion of 71.07, 21.61 and 7.32 %, respectively. The functional groups investigation by FTIR spectroscopy exhibited distinct spectral features of CNTs and the peaks observed at 516.78 and 588.70 cm−1 correspond to the characteristic vibrations of metal‐oxygen (M−O) bond that indicates the presence of CuO in the hybrid CNTs‐CuO NC TF. The optical property of the CNTs–CuO NC TF with CNTs weight proportion of 0.5 % inspected through UV‐Vis‐NIR spectroscopy exhibited high solar absorptance and thermal emittance values of 85.9 and 4.3 %, respectively. The observed highest solar selectivity value of 19.98 suggests that the CNTs–CuO NC TF coating can be apparently used as solar selective absorber.

Optimization of Dielectric-Metal Multilayer Structure for Color-Preserving Radiative Cooling Window.

Radiative cooling window has been designed to emit infrared radiation in the atmospheric transparency window and reflects near-infrared light while allowing visible light to pass through. However, improvements are still needed in the transmissivity of visible light, the reflectivity of near-infrared light, and emissivity of mid-infrared spectra. This paper proposes a color-preserving radiative cooling window consisting of a multilayer film as a transparent near-infrared reflector and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a thermal emitter. This design involves optimizing the types of film materials, the number of layers, and the thicknesses of the films through a genetic algorithm. The performance of multilayer films with various layer numbers is compared, and we choose 7-layer multilayer film (Al2O3/Ag/Al2O3/Ag/Al2O3/Ag/Al2O3) as the transparent near-infrared reflector. Then, we analyze its spectral characteristics in depth. Sequentially, we place a 100-μm-thick PDMS as a thermal emitter above the transparent near-infrared reflector. By combining the transparent near-infrared reflector with the PDMS and utilizing genetic algorithm, a color-preserving radiative cooling window has been achieved with flat and broadband average visible transmittance (86%), high average near-infrared reflectance (86%), high average thermal emissivity (95%) in the atmospheric window, and the drop of temperature (22.3, 21.2, and 15.8 K when nonradiative heat coefficient is, respectively, 0, 6, and 12 W/m2/K).

A systematic analysis of energy-saving potential of spectrum-selective radiative cooling materials in buildings

Passive cooling of buildings through radiative cooling (RC) is considered an effective method for reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning. In recent years, spectrum-selective RC materials (RCMs) have received extensive attention owing to their low solar absorptivity and high thermal emissivity in the atmospheric window. The energy-saving performance of RCMs is related to their own properties and local meteorological conditions, building type, building form, and energy use patterns. Although several studies have explored the performance of RCMs, most existing studies have considered a single building type and meteorological condition, and simple building forms that differ significantly from real buildings. Hence, the application analyses of RCMs to buildings are not sufficiently comprehensive. This study focused on the energy-saving potential of RCMs for building applications, and presented a systematic framework to analyze the energy-saving potential of RCMs under different conditions. DeST, which is embedded with a long-wave radiative heat transfer calculation module based on the equivalent sky temperature, was adopted as the simulation software. It can accurately calculate the radiative heat transfer in different wavelength bands, thus making the simulation results more accurate. Based on the calculation results of large-scale cases considering four major factors, namely climate, building type, construction year, and installation location of RCMs, the energy-saving performance of RCMs in different cases was analyzed, and the return on investment is performed, and more comprehensive suggestions were provided for applying RCMs in future buildings.

Fluorescence‐Enabled Colored Bilayer Subambient Radiative Cooling Coatings

AbstractPassive daytime radiative cooling has emerged as a promising green technology for the thermal management of buildings, vehicles, textiles, and electronics. Typically, both high solar reflectance and high thermal emissivity are prerequisites to achieve sufficient daytime cooling. However, colored radiative cooling materials are facing the dilemma of introducing visible light absorption, leading to challenges in balancing cooling and aesthetic demands. Here, three colored bilayer radiative cooling coatings, each comprised of a white base layer and a colored top layer with fluorescence enhancement are fabricated. Three phosphors (Sr2Si5N8:Eu2+, Y3Al5O12:Ce3+, and (Ba,Sr)SiO4:Eu2+) are employed with respective photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of 81%, 95.8%, and 91.0% as the colored pigment in the top layer. To mitigate the contradiction between coloration and solar reflectance, SiO2 microspheres are introduced into the top layer and utilize their Mie‐resonance‐based multiple scattering to increase the photoluminescent (PL) properties of the phosphors, which jointly boosts the effective solar reflectance (ESR) of the top layer. As a result, the three bilayer coatings exhibit soft colors while achieving subambient cooling with temperature drops of up to 1.5 °C. This fluorescence‐enhancement strategy may pave the way for preparing highly efficient radiative cooling coatings with tunable colors.

Metasurface with all-optical tunability for spatially-resolved and multilevel thermal radiation

Abstract Manipulating the thermal emission in the infrared (IR) range significantly impacts both fundamental scientific research and various technological applications, including IR thermal camouflage, information encryption, and radiative cooling. While prior research has put forth numerous materials and structures for these objectives, the significant challenge lies in attaining spatially resolved and dynamically multilevel control over their thermal emissions. In this study, a one-step ultrafast laser writing technique is experimentally demonstrated to achieve position-selective control over thermal emission based on the phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST). Ultrafast laser writing technique enables direct fabrication and manipulation of laser-induced crystalline micro/nano-structures on GST films. Thermal emission can be precisely controlled by adjusting the pulse energy of the ultrafast laser, achieving a high thermal emissivity modulation precision of 0.0014. By controlling thermal emission, the ultrafast laser writing technique enables multilevel patterned processing. This provides a promising approach for multilevel IR thermal camouflage, which is demonstrated with emissivity-modulated GST emitters. Remarkably, ultrafast laser-induced crystalline micro/nano-structures display geometric grating features, resulting in a diffraction-based structural color effect. This study demonstrates the effective use of laser-printed patterns for storing information in both visible and infrared spectrum.

A durable, breathable, and weather-adaptive coating driven by particle self-assembly for radiative cooling and energy harvesting

The imperative to attain net-zero emissions emphasizes energy conservation. Radiative cooling stands out as a compelling technology in this pursuit for its self-sufficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, the radiative cooling faces the challenge in varied weather, including high ultraviolet (UV), cloudy and rainy days, primarily due to instability of radiative cooling materials and mono-energy conservation mechanism. To address this issue, a durable, breathable, and weather-adaptive coating (porous PTFE coating) has been developed through assembling polyfluortetraethylene (PTFE) nanoparticles enabled by the differential interaction in a binary-solvent system. The porous PTFE coating exhibits high solar reflectivity (94%) and thermal emissivity (93%), which results from the precisely tunable assembly of PTFE nanoparticles, forming a desired porous morphology. This design serves as effective scattering, achieving a sub-ambient cooling effect of approximately 5 ℃ at midday. With an outstanding UV protection factor (UPF) of 179.15, the porous PTFE coating sustained stability after 40 days exposure to solar radiation. Leveraging the porous PTFE coating's exceptional negative triboelectric effect, an engineered high-performance droplet electricity nanogenerator (DEG) achieves a notable power density of 153.8 mW/m2, revealing significant potential for raindrop energy harvesting on rainy days. The versatile porous PTFE coating, with its exceptional weather adaptation and UV stability, holds promise for diverse applications, advancing sustainable and efficient energy solutions with reliability in varying conditions.

High Thermal Conductivity and Radiative Cooling Designed Boron Nitride Nanosheets/Silk Fibroin Films for Personal Thermal Management.

The implementation of passive cooling strategies is crucial for transitioning from the current high-power- and energy-intensive thermal management practices to more environmentally friendly and carbon-neutral alternatives. Among the various approaches, developing thermal management materials with high thermal conductivity and emissivity for effective cooling of personal and wearable devices in both indoor and outdoor settings poses significant challenges. In this study, we successfully fabricated a cooling patch by combining biodegradable silk fibroin with boron nitride nanosheets. This patch exhibits consistent heat dissipation capabilities under different ambient conditions. Leveraging its excellent radiative cooling efficiency (Rsolar = 0.89 and εLWIR = 0.84) and high thermal conductivity (in-plane 27.58 W m-1 K-1 and out-plane 1.77 W m-1 K-1), the cooling patch achieves significant simulated skin temperature reductions of approximately 2.5 and 8.2 °C in outdoor and indoor conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the film demonstrates excellent biosafety and can be recycled and reused for at least three months. This innovative BNNS/SF film holds great potential for advancing the field of personal thermal management materials.

Strain-Insensitive Outdoor Wearable Electronics by Thermally Robust Nanofibrous Radiative Cooler.

Stable outdoor wearable electronics are gaining attention due to challenges in sustaining consistent device performance outdoors, where sunlight exposure and user movement can disrupt operations. Currently, researchers have focused on integrating radiative coolers into wearable devices for outdoor thermal management. However, these approaches often rely on heat-vulnerable thermoplastic polymers for radiative coolers and strain-susceptible conductors that are unsuitable for wearable electronics. Here, we introduce mechanically, electrically, and thermally stable wearable electronics even when they are stretched under sunlight to address these challenges. This achievement is realized by integrating a polydimethylsiloxane nanofibrous cooler and liquid metal conductors for a fully stable wearable device. The thermally robust architecture of nanofibers, based on their inherent properties as thermoset polymers, exhibits excellent cooling performance through high solar reflection and thermal emission. Additionally, laser-patterned conductors possess ideal properties for wearable electronics, including strain-insensitivity, nonsmearing behavior, and negligible contact resistance. As proof, we developed wearable electronics integrated with thermally and electromechanically stable components that accurately detect physiological signals in harsh environments, including light exposure, while stretched up to 30%. This work highlights the potential for the development of everyday wearable electronics capable of reliable operation under challenging external conditions, including user-activity-induced stress and sunlight exposure.

Epsilon-near-zero thin films in a dual-functional system for thermal infrared camouflage and thermal management within the atmospheric window.

Thermal infrared camouflage aims to reduce the detectability of a target using thermal imaging devices. Given the typically high thermal emissivity in everyday environments, the thermal emissivity of the background environment must be considered. The conventional low-emissivity strategy for thermal camouflage is only effective for targets at extremely high temperatures (>350 °C), making it unsuitable for applications near room-to-medium-high temperature range (<350 °C). In this study, we introduce metallic glass into infrared thermal camouflage technology, exploiting its adjustable emissivity to accommodate diverse infrared thermal camouflage scenarios. Moreover, we combined metallic glass with the Berreman mode of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) thin films (SiO2, Al2O3, and TiO2) for the first time. In the long wave infrared (LWIR, 8-14 μm) regions, the small viewing angle exhibits the optical properties of metallic glasses, while the large viewing angle (above 45°) provides high thermal emissivity in transverse-magnetic (TM) polarization. A thermal management function was provided without affecting the thermal camouflage performance. The cooling power exhibited by ENZ thin films on metallic glass surpassed that of the conventional low-emissivity strategy for thermal camouflage by a factor of 1.79. Furthermore, the thermal images indicated over 97% similarity in thermal radiation between the target and background environments. We developed a dual-function system for infrared camouflage and thermal management within an identical wavelength region of the atmospheric window.

A wide angle broadband solar absorber with a horizontal multi-cylinder structure based on an MXene material.

An MXene material absorbs visible and IR light which makes a MXene-based solar absorber an ideal absorber. Here, we propose a high-absorption broadband absorber based on an array of MXene composite cylinder ring structures. The structure designed in this article fully utilizes the MXene material's large surface area to volume ratio, and in the wavelength range of 300-5000 nm, the average absorption efficiency is as high as 98.44%, and the energy absorption rate in the AM 1.5 solar radiation spectrum is 98.76%. The absorption characteristics of the absorber are analyzed by using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The electric and magnetic field patterns indicate that the high absorption performance is attributed to the coupling effect of surface plasmon resonance and gap surface plasmon resonance. Furthermore, the absorber exhibits insensitivity to the polarization angle and demonstrates high absorption efficiency even at large incidence angles. Within a certain manufacturing tolerance range, the absorber can still maintain its broadband absorption characteristics. The absorber also shows a high thermal emissivity of 98.5% when the temperature is 1750 K. The findings offer a theoretical foundation for the development of absorption metamaterials for solar energy harvesting elements.

Investigation of a high-performance solar absorber and thermal emitter based on Ti and InAs

In this work, we utilized Ti and InAs materials to design a device capable of perfect solar absorption and high thermal emission efficiency. This structure is capable of generating surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and cavity resonance (CR).

Hierarchically structured passive radiative cooling ceramic with high solar reflectivity.

Passive radiative cooling using nanophotonic structures is limited by its high cost and poor compatibility with existing end uses, whereas polymeric photonic alternatives lack weather resistance and effective solar reflection. We developed a cellular ceramic that can achieve highly efficient light scattering and a near-perfect solar reflectivity of 99.6%. These qualities, coupled with high thermal emissivity, allow the ceramic to provide continuous subambient cooling in an outdoor setting with a cooling power of >130 watts per square meter at noon, demonstrating energy-saving potential on a worldwide scale. The color, weather resistance, mechanical robustness, and ability to depress the Leidenfrost effect are key features ensuring the durable and versatile nature of the cooling ceramic, thereby facilitating its commercialization in various applications, particularly building construction.