February 9, 2015
This week’s On the Radio segment looks at new, energy-saving insulation technology being developed at Iowa State University. Listen to the audio below, or continue reading for the transcript.
Transcript: ISU insulation research
A researcher at Iowa State University is studying ways to save energy using nanotechnology insulation.
This is the Iowa Environmental Focus.
Mufit Akinc – a professor of materials science and engineering – is working with two Iowa State graduate students to improve the insulation efficiency of freezers, refrigerated trucks, buildings and other heating and cooling applications.
The researchers are studying vacuum insulation panels which use technology that eliminates the air molecules that transfer heat thus increasing efficiency. The panels are roughly one inch thick but have the insulating equivalent of 10 inches of foam. Developing this technology would reduce the need for foam, fiberglass, and synthetic silica in favor of more efficient materials.
Akinc will continue his research and expand his team to include two additional faculty researchers with the help of a $20,000 grant from the Iowa Energy Center.
For more information about this project, visit Iowa-Environmental-Focus-dot-org.
From the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Jerry Schnoor.
Iowa Environmental Focus 