IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,577,656
Granted Patent B2
US 12,577,656 · App. 18/010,978 · Granted Mar 17, 2026

Transparent mesoporous materials and devices comprising same

Inventors: Andrej Lenert (Ann Arbor, MI); Neil P. Dasgupta (Ann Arbor, MI); Zachary James Berquist (Ann Arbor, MI); Andrew Gayle (Ann Arbor, MI)
Assignee: REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
C23C16/045C23C16/40C23C16/403C23C16/45527F24S80/52F24S80/56
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,577,656
App. No.
18/010,978
Granted
Mar 17, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Thermally insulating materials (TIMs) for use in concentrated solar thermal (CST) technologies comprising a mesoporous oxide including a porous oxide matrix comprising a porous oxide and a metal oxide or metal nitride in the form of a conformal layer of the metal oxide or metal nitride on the surface of the porous oxide matrix, wherein the conformal layer completely covers the surface area of the porous oxide matrix, or in the form of metal oxide or metal nitride nanoparticles dispersed throughout the porous oxide matrix, or in the form of a conformal coating or nanoparticles, methods of preparing same, and solar devices comprising same.

Claims (22)

1 . A mesoporous oxide comprising:

a porous oxide matrix comprising a porous oxide and having a surface area; and

a metal oxide or metal nitride in the form of a conformal layer of the metal oxide or metal nitride on the surface of the porous oxide matrix, wherein the mesoporous oxide has a thickness in a range of about 0.5 mm to about 15 cm, the mesoporous oxide is amorphous, the conformal layer completely covers the surface area of the porous oxide matrix through a thickness of the porous oxide matrix, and wherein when the conformal layer comprises the metal oxide, the porous oxide is not the same as the metal oxide.

2 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , wherein the porous oxide comprises a transparent porous oxide.

3 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , wherein the porous oxide comprises silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), chromium oxide (Cr 2 O 3 ), tin dioxide (SnO 2 ), sodium oxide (Na 2 O), calcium oxide (CaO), lithium oxide (Li 2 O), magnesium oxide (MgO), zinc oxide (ZnO), manganese oxide (MnO), cobalt oxide (CoO) or a combination thereof.

4 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide or metal nitride comprises a transparent semiconductor or transparent conductor.

5 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide or metal nitride comprises aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ), zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), titanium oxide (Ti 2 O 3 ), titanium nitride (TIN), tin dioxide (SnO 2 ), magnesium oxide (MgO), calcium oxide (CaO), hafnium dioxide (HfO 2 ), zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ), or a combination thereof.

6 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , further comprising a mixed oxide material disposed between the porous oxide matrix and the metal oxide or metal nitride layer and comprising at least a portion of the porous oxide and at least a portion of the metal oxide.

7 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 6 , wherein the mixed oxide material comprises an amorphous ternary aluminum-silicon oxide material.

8 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , further comprising metal oxide or metal nitride nanoparticles dispersed within the porous oxide matrix.

9 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 8 , wherein the volume fraction of the metal oxide or metal nitride nanoparticles in the mesoporous oxide is in a range of about 0.002% to about 5%, based on the total volume of the mesoporous oxide.

10 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 8 , wherein the metal oxide or metal nitride nanoparticles comprise an electrically transparent conductive oxide (TCO) material, an electrically transparent semiconductive oxide material, or a combination thereof.

11 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 8 , wherein the metal oxide or metal nitride nanoparticles have a localized surface plasmon absorption resonance at a wavelength in a range of about 2 to about 8 microns.

12 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , having a porosity of about 30% to about 97%.

13 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , having a Rosseland weighted absorption coefficient of about at least about 1 cm −1 .

14 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , having a solar-weighted transmittance in a range of about 65% to about 99% over the AM1.5D standard spectrum.

15 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 having a density of about 550 kg/m 3 or less.

16 . The mesoporous oxide of claim 1 , wherein the effective thermal emittance values arev about 0.3 to about 0.1 over a range of temperatures of about 550° C. to 700° C., as determined by the Heat Flux test.

17 . A solar receiver, comprising:

a solar absorber layer;

a window layer; and

a mesoporous oxide layer disposed between the solar absorber layer and the window layer, the mesoporous oxide layer comprising a porous oxide matrix and a metal oxide or a metal nitride, wherein the metal oxide or metal nitride is (1) in the form of a conformal layer of the metal oxide or metal nitride on the surface of the porous oxide matrix and the conformal layer completely covers the porous oxide through a thickness of the matrix, (2) in the form of metal oxide or metal nitride nanoparticles distributed throughout the porous oxide matrix, or (3) a combination of (1) and (2), wherein the mesoporous oxide layer is amorphous, and wherein when the conformal layer comprises the metal oxide, the porous oxide is not the same as the metal oxide.

Assignments (2)
CONFIRMATORY LICENSE Recorded Jan 16, 2024
From: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
To: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Reel/Frame 066306/0812 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 21, 2022
From: LENERT, ANDREJ; DASGUPTA, NEIL P.; BERQUIST, ZACHARY JAMES; GAYLE, ANDREW
To: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Reel/Frame 062170/0541 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63040900 · Jun 18, 2020
Related Publication 20230235450A1 · Jul 27, 2023
References Cited (33)
US 20100178468A1 · Jiang · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20150228415A1 · Seok · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20170229593A1 · Elam · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20190112704A1 · Sung et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
JP 2005306625A · 2005 [cited by examiner]
WO WO9112879A1 · 1991 [cited by examiner]
WO WO2011125024A1 · 2011 [cited by examiner]
“Synthesis of Highly Ordered Hydrothermally Stable Mesoporous Niobia Catalysts by Atomic layer Deposition” YomairaJ. Pagan-Torres et al ; ACS Catalysis 2011, p. 1234-1245 (Year: 2011). [cited by examiner]
Machine Translation of JP 2005306625 (Year: 2005). [cited by examiner]
Pagan-Torres et al., Synthesis of highly ordered hydrothermally stable mesoporous niobia catalysts by atomic layer deposition, ACS Catalysis, 1(10):1234-45 (2011). [cited by applicant]
European Patent Application No. 21825563.6, Communication Pursuant to Rule 164(1) EPC, dated Jun. 27, 2024. [cited by applicant]
Beck et al., Scattering of visible light from silica aerogels, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys., 22(6):730-4 (1989). [cited by applicant]
Berquist et al., Plasmon-Enhanced Greenhouse Selectivity for High-Temperature Solar Thermal Energy Conversion, ACS Nano, 14(10):12605-13 (2020). [cited by applicant]
Dasgupta et al., Atomic layer deposition of Al-doped ZnO films: effect of grain orientation on conductivity, Chem. Mater., 22(16):4769-75 (2010). [cited by applicant]
Gordon et al., A kinetic model for step coverage by atomic layer deposition in narrow holes or trenches, Chem. Vap. Deposition, 9(2):73-8 (2003). [cited by applicant]
Heinemann et al., Radiation-conduction interaction: an investigation on silica aerogels, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 39(10):2115-30 (1996). [cited by applicant]
International Application No. PCT/US2021/038065, International Search Report and Written Opinion, mailed Nov. 26, 2021. [cited by applicant]
Kucheyev et al., Mechanisms of atomic layer deposition on substrates with ultrahigh aspect ratios, Langmuir, 24:943-8 (2008). [cited by applicant]
McEnaney et al., Aerogel-based solar thermal receivers, Nano Energy, 40:180-6 (2017). [cited by applicant]
Nordgaard et al., Modeling of flat-plate collectors based on silica aerogel, Solar Energy, 47(5):387-402 (1992). [cited by applicant]
Reim et al., Highly insulating aerogel glazing for solar energy usage, Solar Energy, 72(1):21-29 (2002). [cited by applicant]
Rinnerbauer et al., Metallic photonic crystal absorber-emitter for efficient spectral control in high-temperature solar themophotovoltaics, Adv. Energy Mater., 4(12):140034 (2014). [cited by applicant]
Rubin et al., Transparent silica aerogels for window insulation, Solar Energy Materials, 7(4):393-400 (1983). [cited by applicant]
Strobach et al., High temperature annealing for structural optimization of silica aerogels in solar thermal applications, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 462:72-7 (2017). [cited by applicant]
Strobach et al., High temperature stability of transparent silica aerogels for solar thermal applications, APL Materials, 7(8):081104 (2019). [cited by applicant]
Svendsen, Solar collector with monolithic silica aerogel, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 145:240-3 (1992). [cited by applicant]
Weinstein et al., Concentrating solar polar, Chemical Reviews, 115(23):12797-838 (2015). [cited by applicant]
Zeng et al., Pore size distribution and apparent gas thermal conductivity of silica aerogel, J. Heat Transfer, 116(3):756-9 (1994). [cited by applicant]
Zeng et al., Theoretical modeling of carbon content to minimize heat transfer in silica aerogel, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 186:271-7 (1995). [cited by applicant]
Zhao et al., Harnessing heat beyond 200° C from unconcentrated sunlight with non-evacuated transparent aerogels, ACS Nano, 13(7):7508-16 (2019). [cited by applicant]
Lee et al., Allucone alloys with tunable properties using alucone molecular layer deposition and Al [cited by applicant]
Sarkar et al., In [cited by applicant]
Akyildiz et al., Temperature and exposure dependence of hybrid organic-inorganic layer formation by sequential vapor infiltration into polymer fibers, Langmuir, 28:15697-704 (2012). [cited by applicant]