Increasing energy efficiency standards as well as potential economic and ecological benefits are driving a need for more thermally insulating windows. Aerogel monoliths offer a potential solution that meets the demonstrated needs while fitting into existing infrastructure. Consisting of microstructure with nanometer sized pores full of air, aerogels are the most insulating material known. This is because the pores are too small for the air to convect heat, while the solid lattice is too thin and dispersed to conduct a meaningful amount of heat. Furthermore, silica aerogel can be made transparent like glass, allowing for incorporation into windows. However, high levels of haze can make aerogel unsuited for fenestration applications. Haze is the percentage of light passing through a material that deviates by more than 2.5˚ from its entrance vector. Hazy windows would render the outside world blurry and deter consumers. To characterize haze in aerogels, and therefore enable experiments to find methods for producing clear monoliths, a haze meter can be used. This consists of a light source and focusing optics, a light detector, and an integrating sphere. The integrating sphere consists of a hollow sphere with a highly reflective diffuse coating, to average anisotropic transmitted light. Unfortunately, haze meters on the market today are expensive. This project details the design and construction of a haze meter purpose-made to be affordable for colleges and universities pushing the frontiers of aerogel science.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Union College for the generous SRG funding it gave me, which made this project possible.