3 ms·
> The approach involves using electricity to alter the properties of the film, so that it changes from acting more like a “black body” – which absorbs and emits
by Eech0Shu 8y ago
> The approach involves using electricity to alter the properties of the film, so that it changes from acting more like a “black body” – which absorbs and emits electromagnetic radiation but does not reflect it – to becoming more like a metal, which reflects radiation but is not good at absorbing or emitting it.
Could this be used for thermal management? E.g. reflect during the day, radiate during night?
- dqpb 8y ago> it could also be useful for covering radiators on satellites, allowing them to be tweaked to reflect heat when facing the sun and emit excess heat when facing deep space.
- namibj 8y agoFor that you just need to make sure your emissivity is low below the black body wavelength at the temperature it should have at night. This is already in use/testing to serve as a kind of A/C in some locations, but iirc. it requires a clear sky to dump the heat into space.