EAGER: CET: Nanolattice Materials with Ultra-Low Thermal Conductivity for Decarbonization of Heat and Fuel

This EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award is made in response to Dear Colleague Letter 23-109, as part of the NSF-wide Clean Energy Technology initiative. The objective of this research is to enable a new class of porous nanolattice coatings with low thermal conductivity (k) and low solar absorption. Ultralow-thermal insulation coatings are essential materials for both long-duration storage of high-temperature solar and industrial heat and cryogenic storage of liquid hydrogen fuel. This work aims to investigate and manipulate the nanoscale heat transfer mechanisms and realize multifunctional metamaterials with controlled conductive and radiative heat transfer properties. The advances in both nanoscale heat transfer and advanced nanomanufacturing will enhance the ability to manufacture high-performance thermal insulation materials for energy decarbonization. If successful, this effort can enable lightweight nanolattice thermal insulation coating with ultralow k and low solar absorption for hydrogen fuel-powered vehicle platforms, portable hydrogen power, large-volume hydrogen delivery, and long duration storage of solar and industrial heat. This research will also provide education and training opportunities for the development of the next-generation workforce in clean energy technologies. The long-term goal of this research is to enable complex nanolattice designs that employ multiple nanolattice and reflector layers to reflect solar and thermal radiation while maintaining ultralow thermal conductivity. The specific research goals are to establish scalable patterning processes to fabricate nanolattice materials and their nanoscale building blocks with precisely controlled geometry and material compositions for property measurements, devise sensitive measurement techniques to characterize nanoscale conductive and radiative thermal transport properties of nanolattice structures and their nanoscale building blocks, and construct multiscale and multiphysics simulation models to predict the optical and thermal transport properties of different nanolattice designs. The research can enable the design and scalable manufacturing of nanolattice with superior thermal insulation materials for a broad spectrum of energy decarbonization technologies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.