“From the synthesis point of view, coating boron nitride on glass is truly amazing and very exciting,” remarked Abhijit Biswas, the lead author on this study.
The innovation combines carbon atoms within a boron nitride lattice, creating a transparent, scratch-resistant film that holds up against UV exposure, moisture, and temperature swings. This resilience makes it well-suited for skyscraper facades and other urban buildings constantly exposed to environmental stresses.
By using a room-temperature pulsed laser deposition process, the coating sidesteps high-heat manufacturing steps, potentially simplifying production and enabling wider use on substrates like polymers or textiles. For commercial building operators, this opens the door to better thermal performance and lower maintenance costs over time.
Initial modeling suggests energy savings of up to 2.9% in cold-climate cities such as New York, Beijing, and Calgary when compared to existing glass technologies. While the percentage may sound small, the impact across millions of square feet of commercial real estate could translate into major cost reductions and carbon footprint improvements.
The potential market implications are big. In the U.S. alone, more than 4 billion square feet of new windows are installed every year. Even incremental efficiency gains offer real financial and sustainability benefits.
Cost-wise, boron nitride carries advantages over metals like silver and indium tin oxide, commonly used in current low-E glass. Comparing costs directly remains complicated due to differences in scale, production methods, and durability. According to Pulickel Ajayan, Rice’s Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering, however, “Although pure boron nitride shows almost similar emissivity to glass, when you add a little amount of carbon into it, the emissivity lowers significantly ⎯ and this changes the game altogether.” The new material may eventually be produced at scale through established techniques like roll-to-roll chemical vapor deposition or sputtering.
The research, conducted alongside teams from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Arizona State University, Cornell University, and the University of Toronto, underscores the global push for energy-efficient building materials. As stricter building codes and climate targets drive demand for smarter facade systems, coatings like Rice’s carbon-doped boron nitride could become central to next-generation commercial design strategies.
