$1M Air Force Award To Harness Solar and Thermal Energy for Spacecrafts
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng, in collaboration with Faraday Technology Inc., received a $1 million research grant from the U.S. Air Force, for a “Concentric Ultra-Dark Solar-Thermal Absorber and Metasurface Thermal Emitter for Thermophotovoltaic Power Conversion.” This will be used to create materials for satellites, spacecrafts, and space vehicles that would enable them to absorb heat sources and convert them to reusable energy.
Yi Zheng, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, and Faraday Technology, Inc. received a $1 million contract from the U.S Air Force to develop novel materials for satellites, spacecrafts, and space vehicles that will conduct energy harvesting in space by absorbing heat and repurposing it as usable energy.
While the project, “Concentric Ultra-Dark Solar-Thermal Absorber and Metasurface Thermal Emitter for Thermophotovoltaic Power Conversion” is currently focused on space, the materials produced could ultimately be used on a wide range of earth-bound devices that would benefit from its energy recycling process.
The materials will be designed to adhere to a spacecraft or satellite as a multi-layer outside coating that can absorb thermal energy as well as infrared energy emitted from on-board components. Currently, excess thermal and infrared energy used or produced by spacecrafts and satellites is released into space as waste that drifts away.
This waste heat recovery process will also decrease the detectible thermal signature of a spacecraft, a land vehicle, and a warship, meaning other, and potentially adversarial, vessels would be less able to identify it.
The materials will be designed to withstand the extreme cold and heat encountered in space, enabling a spacecraft to operate under a range of conditions, another factor that will contribute to the longevity of the spacecraft.
“Without the ability to harness and convert excess energy, a device could burn or break down,” Zheng says.
Zheng’s energy harvesting system will rely on concentric carbon nanotube-based devices fabricated by Faraday Technology. Faraday’s carbon nanotubes and Zheng’s functional metasurfaces will help process both incoming and outgoing sources of energy. The nanotubes are based on an ultra-dark solar-thermal radiation absorber and a metasurface thermal emitter, coupled with a thermophotovoltaic cell, which converts heat into electricity.
The goal is to initially demonstrate functional materials in a millimeter size and then scale it to a ten centimeters range, Zheng says. Eventually the materials will be scaled further to be applied to large spacecrafts or satellites in space.
“We want to ultimately extend the life of devices and save energy in space,” Zheng adds.
Zheng is also a NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow, engaged in a NASA project focused on the highly efficient Battery Thermal Management System.
Abstract
There is a pressing need to achieve functional materials with enhanced thermal radiative properties as well as high-temperature resistance capabilities, which have direct applications in photovoltaic energy harvesting and conversion in harsh environments. Wavelength-selective thermal emission using micro/nano-patterned surfaces has been studied over the last few decades. However, a comprehensive study relevant to controllable optothermal properties with simultaneous high-temperature stability, narrowband selectivity, and directional emittance is still lacking. Photonic metasurfaces with unique properties primarily determined by their physical structures promise innovative approaches in this context. This project aims to fundamentally study and experimentally demonstrate photonic metasurfaces with excellent thermal stability and spectral and directional thermal emission, so that the radiative heat transfer can be efficiently controlled. The PI Zheng will design and fabricate selective emissive metasurfaces, and conduct their optothermal stability validation, which can be used for low-bandgap thermophotovoltaic devices in a concentrated solar power system. The goal is to develop a high-performance metasurface-based thermal device for spacecraft harvesting solar and thermal energy with power generation capacity that meets the U.S. Air Force’s needs.
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