Smart glass windows made with vanadium are capable of saving more energy by stopping thermal radiation from escaping and, thus, preventing heat loss during the winter, and by avoiding infrared radiation from the sun from entering the building during the summer.
This is according to a compilation of studies made public today by VanadiumCorp Resource (TSX-V:VRB). The Vancouver-based company owns 100% of the Lac Doré vanadium-titanium-iron mine located in the eastern Canadian province of Quebec.
Based on research advanced by the U.S. Department of Education and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, VanadiumCorp’s CEO, Adriaan Bakker, said that vanadium defies the Wiedemann-Franz Law, which states that good conductors of electricity are also good conductors of heat.
“The thermal conductivity attributed to vanadium electrons is ten times smaller than what would be expected from the Wiedemann-Franz Law. Vanadium dioxide acts as an insulator, helping to keep indoor heat from escaping through the window glass and still allows the full spectrum of sunlight to enter from the outside.
At higher surface temperatures, however, it transforms into a metal that blocks heat-causing infrared solar radiation from entering,” he explained in a media statement.
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