Coated hollow and evacuated insulation spheres (ceis)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022023817-A1
Application number	US-202117384317-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 23, 2021
Priority date	Jul 24, 2020
Publication date	Jan 27, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

An insulation medium invention includes a plurality of microspheres. Each microsphere comprises a porous core comprising a porous core material and having an exterior surface, a gas within the porous core, and a coating layer coating all of the exterior surface of the porous core. The coating layer comprises a coating material which transitions from a first state to a second state. In the first state, the coating material is permeable to the gas. In the second state the material is impermeable to the gas. The coating material in the second state is configured to encapsulate and maintain partial vacuum of the gas inside the porous core. In one embodiment, in the second state the coating is impermeable to air. Insulated structures, a method of making an insulation medium, a fluid storage media, and a method of delivering a fluid are also disclosed.

First claim

We claim:

1 . An insulation medium, comprising:
a plurality of microspheres, each microsphere comprising:
a porous core comprising a porous core material and having an exterior surface;
a gas within the porous core;
a coating layer coating all of the exterior surface of the porous core, wherein the coating layer comprises a coating material which transitions from a first state to a second state, and wherein in the first state the coating material is permeable to the gas, and in the second state the material is impermeable to the gas; and,
wherein the coating material in the second state is configured to encapsulate and maintain partial vacuum of the gas inside the porous core.

2 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein in the second state the coating is impermeable to air.

3 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the partial vacuum is less than 760 torr.

4 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the partial vacuum is less than 100 torr.

5 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the partial vacuum is from 10 −6 to less than 760 torr.

6 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the porous core comprises a structure of interconnected pores or channels, and the coating material conformally coats the exterior of the porous core to form a gas-impermeable layer that maintains the partial vacuum inside the porous core.

7 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the porous core comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of glass, diatomaceous earth, calcium silicate and polymers.

8 . The medium of claim 7 , wherein the glass comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of borosilicate, quartz, Pyrex® and soda lime.

9 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the porous core is shaped as a hollow shell comprising a porous shell wall.

10 . The medium of claim 9 , wherein a thickness of the shell wall is from 0.5-5 μm.

11 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the coating material comprises a polymeric material.

12 . The medium of claim 11 , wherein the polymeric material comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate copolymer, ethyl methacrylate copolymer, polyvinyl butyral, poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate), polystyrene, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl alcohol, poly(ethylene carbonate), ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyurethane and epoxies.

13 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the coating material comprises an inorganic material.

14 . The medium of claim 13 , wherein the inorganic material comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, quartz, alumina, Pyrex®, silica, and metal-oxide compounds.

15 . The medium of claim 13 , wherein the inorganic material comprises at least one metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, iron, manganese, nickel, palladium, platinum, silver, titanium, zinc and zirconium.

16 . The medium of claim 13 , wherein the inorganic material comprises a powder.

17 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the coating material has a thickness of from 10-1000 nm.

18 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein a diameter of the microsphere is from 30-300 μm.

19 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the porous core comprises pores having a pore diameter of from 5 nm to 1000 nm.

20 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the transition from the first state to the second state comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of polymerization, densification and sintering.

21 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the transition from the first state to the second state comprises melting and resolidifying a polymer coating.

22 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the porosity of the porous core is from 25% to 90%.

23 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of air, H 2 , H 2 S, O 2 , CO, CO 2 , NO, NO 2 , NH 3 , CH 4 , CO 2 , and mercaptan.

24 . The medium of claim 1 , further comprising a matrix material configured to randomly pack the plurality of microspheres in the matrix material.

25 . The medium of claim 24 , wherein the randomly packed microspheres form a void fraction in a range of 15-99 volume % based upon the total volume of the microspheres and the matrix material.

26 . The medium of claim 24 , wherein the matrix material is polymeric material.

27 . The medium of claim 26 , wherein the matrix polymeric material comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate copolymer, ethyl methacrylate copolymer, polyvinyl butyral, poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate), polystyrene, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl alcohol, poly(ethylene carbonate), ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyurethane and epoxies.

28 . Insulation, comprising:
an insulation medium, comprising:
a plurality of microspheres, each microsphere comprising:
a porous core comprising a porous core material and having an exterior surface;
a gas within the porous core;
a coating layer covering all of the exterior surface of the porous core, wherein the coating layer comprises a coating material which transitions from a first state to a second state, and wherein in the first state the coating material is permeable to the gas, and in the second state the material is impermeable to the gas; and,
wherein the coating material in the second state is configured to encapsulate and maintain partial vacuum of the gas inside the porous core; and,
a container for the insulation medium.

29 . The insulation of claim 28 , wherein the insulation has a thermal resistance in a range of 15-400 mK/W.

30 . The insulation of claim 28 , wherein the container comprises wall board.

31 . The insulation of claim 28 , wherein the container comprises paper.

32 . The insulation of claim 28 , further comprising a matrix material configured to randomly pack the plurality of microspheres in the matrix material.

33 . A building panel, comprising:
a first facing material; a second facing material spaced from the first facing material; an insulation medium between the first facing panel and the second facing panel, the insulation medium comprising:
a plurality of microspheres, each microsphere comprising:
a porous core comprising a porous core material and having an exterior surface;
a gas within the porous core;
a coating layer covering all of the exterior surface of the porous core, wherein the coating layer comprises a coating material which transitions from a first state to a second state, and wherein in the first state the coating material is permeable to the gas, and in the second state the material is impermeable to the gas; and,
wherein the coating material in the second state is configured to encapsulate and maintain partial vacuum of the gas inside the porous core.

34 . A method of making an insulation medium, comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of microspheres, each microsphere comprising a porous core comprising a porous core material and having an exterior surface; positioning a gas within the porous core; applying a coating layer covering all of the exterior surface of the porous core to provide a coated porous core, wherein the coating layer comprises a coating material which transitions from a first state

Assignees

• Ut Battelle Llc

Inventors

• Aytug Tolga
• Li Kai
• Lamm Meghan E
• Hun Diana
• Biswas Kaushik

Classifications

• Y02W30/91

  Use of waste materials as fillers for mortars or concrete · CPC title

• B32B2264/203

  Expanded, porous or hollow particles · CPC title

• B32B2264/1021

  Silica · CPC title

• B32B27/306

  comprising vinyl acetate or vinyl alcohol (co)polymers · CPC title

• B32B9/045

  of synthetic resin · CPC title