Researchers from Singapore have created special paint, which effectively absorbs heat even in high humidity conditions.
This paint can significantly reduce the need for air conditioning and can maintain its appearance for many years. A key problem with cooling in areas with high humidity is water vapor, which traps heat. Because of this, indoor air conditioning systems must counteract both the outside temperature and the latent heat due to high humidity.
Currently, for commercial use, there are already created colors with radiation cooling properties that remove heat from surfaces, and paints that reflect sunlight from surfaces, preventing them from heating up. The cement-based paint developed by singaporean scientists combines the properties of radiation cooling, sunlight reflection and evaporative cooling.
The paint has a porous structure to retain water and slowly evaporate, just as the human body sweats. The scientists tested their development by painting three houses.
One house was painted with ordinary white paint, the second with radiation-cooled paint, and the last with the innovative paint. The researchers noted that their paint made it possible to reduce electricity consumption air conditioning systems in the building by 30-40%. This was made possible thanks to evaporative cooling and strong sunlight reflection: it reflected 88-92% of sunlight.
After 2 years of hot and rainy weather, the paint on the first two buildings turned yellow, while the cement-based paint remained white thanks to nanoparticles added to the formula to improve reflective properties.
This can help reduce the high 60% of energy that buildings use to cool their interior spaces, especially in warmer places like Singapore and the Middle East. According to the researchers, It can also help combat the so-called heat island effect, which affects densely populated urban areas where buildings and roads absorb and re-radiate heat, causing temperatures to rise.
Kills flu and COVID: scientists have created a paint that instantly destroys bacteria and viruses
The results of the study are published in the journal Science
Source: New Atlas
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