New nano-material made to protect astronauts in space

Australian scientists have just developed a nano-material that contains the ability to turn windows into mirrors and back again by adjustment of its temperature, which in turn can help protect astronauts from space radiations.

A team of eight scientists at the Australian National University (ANU), working on the project for two years, have successfully accomplished their goal. The lead researcher Mohsen Rahmani informed that the nanomaterial is really thin that hundreds of layers of it can possibly fit on the tip of a needle and can be applied to almost any surface like spacesuits.

Due to its capability to interact with incoming light, the nanomaterial is likely to change its optical properties.

He exclaimed, "By adjusting the temperature of that thin layer, we are able to control the optical properties of those thin particles so that the ­entire surface can either transit or reflect the incoming light on ­demand."

The material also allows mirrors to immediately become transparent windows and turn back to its original state again after a few minutes. On hot days, the windows can transform into mirrors for reflecting sunlight and for keeping the heat out.

According to The Australian, this trait could be used in order to lower the temperature in cars parked in the sun. As Dr. Rahmani says, this nanomaterial would reflect light travelling from either side, as a window could morph into a mirror on both sides.

As per Dr. Rahmani, if people invest rightly, the material could likely be in use for almost two to three years. Their research has been published in Advanced Functional Materials.

"Our invention has a lot of ­potential applications, such as protecting astronauts or satellites with an ultra-thin film that can be adjusted to reflect dangerous ultraviolet or infra-red radiation in different environments," Dr Rahmani said.

Talking about protecting astronauts from space radiations, Dr. Rahmani claimed that the recent spacesuit protection technology is dependent on absorbing harmful energy instead of reflecting it. "Our technology significantly increases the resistance threshold against harmful radiation compared to today’s technologies, which rely on absorbing radiation with thick filters."

This invention could prove to be beneficial for saving energy heating and for cooling homes. According to Andrey Miroshnich­enko, the co-researcher, the innovation opened doors to complete new array of inventions such as architectural and energy saving applications, stated Science Daily.

"For instance, you could control the amount of light passing through your house windows in different seasons," expressed Dr Miroshnichenko.