Large area transparent refractory aerogels with high solar thermal performance

Berquist, Zachary J.; Gayle, Andrew J.; Mañón, Andrés Miranda; Vogt, Victor; Yao, Keyi Kang; Ramasawmy, Vishnu; Wilke, Kyle; Dasgupta, Neil P.; Lenert, Andrej

doi:10.1016/j.solener.2025.113437

Large area transparent refractory aerogels with high solar thermal performance

Journal Article · Sun Mar 23 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Solar Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2025.113437· OSTI ID:3010646

Berquist, Zachary J. ^[1]; ^[1]; Mañón, Andrés Miranda ^[1]; ^[2]; Yao, Keyi Kang ^[2]; Ramasawmy, Vishnu ^[2]; ^[2]; Dasgupta, Neil P. ^[1]; ^[1]

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
AeroShield Materials, Hyde Park, MA (United States)

Application of transparent silica aerogels in low-temperature solar thermal systems has led to major improvements in performance. In high temperature concentrating solar thermal (CST) systems, aerogels have yet to demonstrate the necessary scalability, durability, and performance to support their widespread deployment. Here, large-area transparent refractory aerogel tiles are synthesized and shown to achieve a record-high receiver figure-of-merit (FOM) at high temperatures. The work leverages a scaled-up process for sol–gel synthesis to control the density of the aerogels for improved solar transmittance and adapts a previous atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique with the aid of predictive reaction-transport modeling. After aging for 10 days at 700 °C, the large-area tiles exhibit a solar-weighted transmittance of 95.6 % and a thermal emittance of 0.31, corresponding to a FOM of 80 % at 100 suns and 700 °C. The observed sintering rates at 700 °C are comparably low to earlier one-inch aerogels, suggesting long-term stability under relevant operating conditions. Furthermore, the study indicates that refractory aerogels are scalable materials for efficient photothermal conversion at high temperatures.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: AeroShield Materials, Hyde Park, MA (United States); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellowship Program; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008526; EE0009376; EE0009805

OSTI ID:: 3010646

Journal Information:: Solar Energy, Journal Name: Solar Energy Vol. 292; ISSN 0038-092X

Publisher:: Elsevier BVCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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