Nanocomposite materials for rapid-response interior air humidity buffering in closed environments

Journal article

Three different mesoporous silica (MS) samples were selected as template materials for designing novel, high-performance desiccants to give rapid-response temperature and humidity buffering in closed environments. The aim was to investigate how the functional properties of the MS materials can be tuned to suit differing psychrometric conditions in closed environments, and to inform the design process by conducting sensitivity analysis using building performance simulation software. Their humidity buffering performance was compared with other materials using WUFI Pro v5.1 to conduct numerical hygrothermal simulations. The MS materials had more than two orders of magnitude greater humidity buffering than traditional interior building materials (e.g. painted gypsum plaster) due to their high vapour storage capacity and high dynamic vapour sorption (DVS) response rates. Analysis showed that the gradient of the w 50-w 80 portion of the absorption branch isotherm is the most sensitive parameter when using the hygrothermal numerical model as a design tool for materials tuning. © 2013 Copyright International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA).

Authors: Casey, S; Hall, MR; Tsang, S; Khan, M

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: JOURNAL OF BUILDING PERFORMANCE SIMULATION
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 354-366
• Publication date: 2013-09-01
• DOI: 10.1080/19401493.2012.698395
• EISSN: 1940-1507
• ISSN: 1940-1493
• Language: English
• Keywords: numerical model; humidity buffering; desiccant; hygrothermal