Overview
- The lab-reported material transmits more than 99% of visible light while achieving thermal conductivity lower than still air, according to results published in Science.
- Researchers fabricated slabs over 3 cm thick and roughly one square metre in area that maintained window-like clarity, and they also envision thin sheets for retrofits.
- The process templates polysiloxane around self-assembled CPCL micelles to create consistent 2–50 nm pores that limit heat transport without visible haze.
- Team calculations suggest retrofitting with MOCHI could raise building energy efficiency from about 6% to more than 30% and cut heat flow through windows by around 50%.
- Production remains laboratory-scale and time-intensive, yet feedstocks are inexpensive; a 5 mm sheet blocked heat from an open flame while reflecting about 0.2% of incoming light.