US: A team at the University of Colorado Boulder has developed a new silicone gel-based insulation called Mesoporous Optically Clear Heat Insulator (MOCHI). In a paper published in Science, the team reported that MOCHI consists of 90% air in a microscopic porous lattice. A 5mm-thick sheet can effectively block the heat of a flame, while reflecting just 0.2% of its light. This makes the material suitable for use in windows.
Researcher Ivan Smalyukh said "To block heat exchange, you can put a lot of insulation in your walls, but windows need to be transparent. Finding insulators that are transparent is really challenging."
New transparent insulation for windows
