Emplacement of screen-printed graphene oxide coating for building thermal comfort discernment

Abstract

This study demonstrates the development of flexible graphene oxide coatings (GOCs) by the screenprinted technique and further its implementation as a thermal absorber for buildings’ thermal comfort purpose. The basic concept consists the integration of the GOC as a flat absorber on the top of a low iron glass or aluminium-based substrate (5 x 5 cm2 ) connecting through a phase change material channel in contact with direct sun exposure. The function of GOC as an outdoor cover of the prototype chamber is to maintain the high indoor temperature while the outdoor temperature is low. Using the GOC, it has been observed that the indoor temperature (at the substrate) of the prototype chamber always remains higher as compared to the outdoor temperature (at the GOC) as measured under 1 SUN 1.5 AM condition. The temperature difference between outdoor and indoor exterior surface significantly increases during the light exposure time, whereas the difference drastically approaches to zero during the cooling period. The variation of different crucial environmental factors such as high temperature, moisture, flexibility and water resistivity has been investigated on the developed GOCs to understand the stability of the coating further.