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Heating and cooling buildings account for a large portion of global energy use. A research team in the Texas A&M University Department of Materials Science and Engineering was featured on the cover of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces for a study that aims to reduce that energy consumption.

The June 10 issue's cover art was designed around a class of materials that the research team is calling "salogels." Salogels are gel-like hybrid materials that pair polymer structures with inorganic salt hydrates to store and release heat.

Salt hydrates already store a large amount of thermal energy and have a high resistance to burning. This is why they work so well at storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. The main problem is that, on their own, they can leak and break down with repeated use. Introducing a polymer network or structure into them can resolve many of these concerns without sacrificing storage capacity.

Dr. Kartik Kumar Rajagopalan, a research scientist in Texas A&M's Soft Matter Facility (SoMF), led the research under the leadership of Dr. Svetlana A. Sukhishvili, professor and director of SoMF. Dr. Peiran Wei, SoMF facility manager and senior research scientist, is credited with designing the cover art—the gummy bear–shaped salogel.

Beyond building uses, the team focuses on applications in batteries and temperature-control electronics, smart windows, anti-icing coatings, supercapacitors and energy conversion systems.

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