“By using microstructured concrete, buildings will be able to cool themselves naturally and thus reduce the ‘urban heat islands’ that accumulate in cities during summer heat waves and can make these spaces unbearable,” says Denis Barbier, co-founder and CEO of Microlight3D. “This self-cooling structural building material will also reduce energy consumption for air conditioning and benefit the climate by reducing CO2 emissions.”

The consortium selected Microlight3D for its 3D microprinting technology’s ability to create ultra-high-resolution 3D microstructures in materials rigid enough to be used as molds for concrete and to create microtopographies.

In this project, Microlight3D will use its two-photon polymerization technology to create microstructures that will be used as molds for the concrete. This will allow steel microfibers to be inserted within the microtopographic variations created on the surface. In doing so, the concrete will be transformed into a photonic metamaterial, converting solar heat into infrared wavelengths that are then re-emitted through the atmosphere. In this way, the photonic metaconcrete is able to expel heat from buildings into outer space without consuming additional energy.

The project will last four years. Led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC - Madrid), the members of the MIRACLE consortium (Photonic Metaconcrete with Infrared Radiative Cooling capacity for Large Energy Savings) include:

Darmstadt University of Technology (Germany),
Public University of Navarre (Pamplona, ​​Spain),
Tecnalia Research and Innovation Foundation (San Sebastián, Spain),
KU Leuven (Belgium),
Turin University of Technology (Italy),
and Microlight3D (Grenoble, France).

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