Indian scientists develop energy efficient smart screens from discarded groundnut shells

Indian scientists have developed an eco-friendly smart screen from groundnut shells that could help in preserving privacy. It will also help in energy conservation by controlling light and heat passing through it and reducing air conditioning load.

A group of researchers led by Prof. S. Krishna Prasad, along with Dr Shankar Rao of the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bangalore, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India has made major headway in developing such a cellulose-based smart screen from discarded ground nutshells.

The device they developed, described in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters, employed the same principle that causes fog on winter mornings.

The scientists said that while, in principal, the device could be developed from any cellulose or agricultural waste, due to certain properties of groundnut waste, the smart screen developed from groundnut waste has been found to be most efficient.

Apart from the original intention of targeted privacy creation, the device can be employed for a whole range of possible applications, especially in energy conservation by controlling the amount and window of infrared light that is permitted to pass.