Urban Heat Island Mitigation with PbS quantum dots

Urban overheating is a serious problem with high impact on the environmental quality, energy consumption and health. Since high absorbing materials such as asphalt are one of the main contributors to urban overheating, one of... [ view full abstract ]

Urban overheating is a serious problem with high impact on the environmental quality, energy consumption and health. Since high absorbing materials such as asphalt are one of the main contributors to urban overheating, one of the effective methods to overcome the urban overheating phenomena is the use of materials with less heat generating effect. Urban surfaces with lower surface temperature can be obtained by utilizing the photoluminescence/fluorescence phenomena. Based on the literature, application of conventional fluorescent materials shows 6.5^oC lower surface temperature than conventional materials. This paper explores the possibility of utilizing quantum dots as nano-scale fluorescent materials to tackle urban overheating. One of the main advantages of quantum dots over conventional fluorescent materials is the possibility to manipulate their optical properties to acheieve the highest mitigation potential. In this paper, PbS quantum dots with emission in the infrared range have been synthesized. Afterwards, QDs coated sample was exposed to sunlight from 8 a.m to 4 p.m and its mitigation potential was compared against reference sample. Based on results, QDs coated sample shows up to 10^oC lower surface temperature than the reference sample.