nanoparticles and steam

TonyTMarsBeginner · 2016-10-26 18:14:53

"A new, extremely black material can turn water into steam using only sunlight, without the need to bring the water to a boil. Made of gold nanoparticles tens of billionths of a meter wide affixed to a scaffold pocked with tiny channels, or “nanopores,” the material is a deep black color because it reflects very little visible light. It is 99 percent efficient at absorbing light in the visible spectrum and parts of the infrared spectrum, researchers report April 8 in Science Advances.

Thanks to its highly porous structure, the material floats on the surface of water, allowing it to soak up the sun’s rays. When light of a certain wavelength hits a gold nanoparticle inside one of the nanopores, it stirs up the electrons on the surface, sloshing them back in forth in an oscillation known as a plasmon. These plasmons produce localized, intense heating, which vaporizes the water nearby.

The wavelength of light that excites a plasmon depends on the size of the nanoparticle. So in order to take advantage of as much of the sun’s output as possible, the group interspersed a variety of sizes of gold nanoparticles in the pores, which could therefore absorb a range of wavelengths."

I was wondering if a warm suit with impregnated nanoparticles would be a good idea or not? Maybe an emergency suit or an addition to something else. It might be a way to combat the extreme cold.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q … ssu6UAwIDw

SpaceNut · 2016-10-26 18:49:09

Its cutting edge technology by is the expense worth the out come or its cost......

louis · 2016-10-26 19:09:00

Heating is not really a problem when it comes to space suits it would appear...

http://spacen12.imascientist.ie/2012/11 … pace-suit/

What is a problem is getting in and out of them - can take hours. That's why I recommend that generally we would stay in pressurised rovers when working outside, to preclude the need for getting in and out of the suits.

TonyTMarsBeginner wrote:

"A new, extremely black material can turn water into steam using only sunlight, without the need to bring the water to a boil. Made of gold nanoparticles tens of billionths of a meter wide affixed to a scaffold pocked with tiny channels, or “nanopores,” the material is a deep black color because it reflects very little visible light. It is 99 percent efficient at absorbing light in the visible spectrum and parts of the infrared spectrum, researchers report April 8 in Science Advances.
Thanks to its highly porous structure, the material floats on the surface of water, allowing it to soak up the sun’s rays. When light of a certain wavelength hits a gold nanoparticle inside one of the nanopores, it stirs up the electrons on the surface, sloshing them back in forth in an oscillation known as a plasmon. These plasmons produce localized, intense heating, which vaporizes the water nearby.
The wavelength of light that excites a plasmon depends on the size of the nanoparticle. So in order to take advantage of as much of the sun’s output as possible, the group interspersed a variety of sizes of gold nanoparticles in the pores, which could therefore absorb a range of wavelengths."
I was wondering if a warm suit with impregnated nanoparticles would be a good idea or not? Maybe an emergency suit or an addition to something else. It might be a way to combat the extreme cold.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q … ssu6UAwIDw

TonyTMarsBeginner · 2016-10-26 19:23:42

Good points, cost to outcome probably doesn't make sense and pressurized rovers if built right could take care of most scenarios.

Terraformer · 2016-10-27 05:43:23

I don't think heating is a problem so much as cooling is. The thin atmosphere won't be very good at getting rid of body heat. Provided your boots, and any other part that comes into contact with Martian surfaces, is properly insulated, you shouldn't need a heating system. If you're using MCP suits that you can sweat through, you won't need a cooling system either.

JoshNH4H · 2016-10-27 09:07:41

GW likes to talk about a mechanical counterpressure (MCP) suit like long johns, using the term "vacuum underwear". I think its a bit optimistic to think of it as being that simple but I definitely like the concept.

With regards to this technology, it's probably important to understand what it is and isn't doing. The difference between these gold nanoparticles and a black pigment isn't that they absorb the energy in the light better, it's that they absorb it in a more localized way. Normally, if you had a black pigment submersed in water it would absorb energy and heat both itself and the water by some amount. This pigment is absorbing the energy and heating itself and a small amount of water by a lot. It sounds like something that would be a lot better but because the total energy is the same its use as a pigment is also about the same.

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#1 2016-10-26 18:14:53

nanoparticles and steam

#2 2016-10-26 18:49:09

Re: nanoparticles and steam

#3 2016-10-26 19:09:00

Re: nanoparticles and steam

#4 2016-10-26 19:23:42

Re: nanoparticles and steam

#5 2016-10-27 05:43:23

Re: nanoparticles and steam

#6 2016-10-27 09:07:41

Re: nanoparticles and steam

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