| By Scott Jenkins
Buildings lose considerable heating and cooling energy through their windows, so window coatings with low thermal conductivity would improve efficiency. However, finding insulating materials that are also transparent is a challenge. A team of researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder (www.colorado.edu) has developed a novel insulating material for windows that lowers thermal conductivity, but that also allows visible light to pass.
The material, called mesoporous optically clear heat insulator (MOCHI), has been made in large slabs (>3 cm thick) and in thin sheets a square meter in size that can be applied to the inside of a window (photo). MOCHI is a relative of aerogels — synthetic materials…