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We have been trained to believe thicker equals better.
Thicker insulation.
Thicker walls.
Thicker coatings.
But in surface thermal science, thickness is often the wrong metric. What matters is how a surface interacts with energy before that energy becomes a problem.
This is where ultra-thin films change the conversation.
Most traditional insulation works by slowing heat after it has already entered the material.
That means:
The system is reactive.
In hot climates, this is a losing strategy. You are fighting stored energy.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, radiant heat gain through roofs is one of the largest contributors to cooling loads in buildings
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/insulation
The issue is not just conduction. It is radiation.
And radiation does not care how thick your insulation is once the surface has absorbed it.
Ultra thin films work differently.
Instead of storing heat and slowing it, they aim to manage it at the surface.
Three principles dominate performance:
Research published in Nature on passive radiative cooling shows that engineered thin films can reflect most solar energy while emitting thermal radiation effectively through the atmospheric window
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1380-1
That research changed how we think about cooling surfaces. The best materials were not thick. They were engineered at the micro and nano scale to control radiation behaviour.
Thickness was irrelevant. Surface behaviour was everything.
An ultra thin coating that blocks radiation at the boundary prevents heat loading from occurring in the first place.
Compare the mechanisms:
| Thick Material | Ultra Thin Film |
|---|---|
| Absorbs heat | Rejects heat |
| Stores thermal mass | Minimises heat loading |
| Slows conduction | Controls radiation |
| Performance measured by R-value | Performance measured by solar rejection and surface thermophysics |
R-values measure resistance to conductive flow. They do not measure radiant heat rejection.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/articles/insulation-materials
Solar energy is roughly 44% visible light, 53% near infrared, and 3% ultraviolet. The majority of heat is in the infrared band. If that is not managed at the surface, bulk insulation is already behind.
Ultra thin ceramic insulation coatings operate at dry film thicknesses measured in microns, not millimetres.
For example, Super Therm® is applied at approximately 0.25 mm dry film thickness yet blocks 96.1% of total solar heat. It reflects 97% of UV and blocks 99% of infrared radiation as tested under ASTM E1269 and ASTM E1461.
Unlike conventional insulation, it does not rely on thickness to resist conduction. It reduces heat loading at the envelope itself.
Independent trial data from the City of Adelaide Cool Roof Trial recorded internal temperature reductions of up to 6°C below ambient conditions when applied to roof surfaces.
Testing details and validation are publicly available
https://neotechcoatings.com/super-therm-testing-and-results/
This is not about magic. It is about energy interception.
Thermal mass is useful in stable climates. But in high solar load environments, mass can become a heat battery.
A thick concrete slab can absorb massive heat loads and continue radiating long after sunset. This is a major contributor to the Urban Heat Island effect, documented extensively by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
https://www.epa.gov/heatislands
Ultra thin films do not aim to become part of the thermal mass. They aim to prevent the charge.
That is a strategic difference.
Ultra thin surface technologies are particularly effective in:
Anywhere radiation dominates the heat load, thin films outperform bulk-only strategies.
Because they address the first contact event.
If 53% of solar energy arrives as near infrared radiation, and that energy strikes the outer surface first, why are we still measuring performance primarily with thickness-based metrics?
Thickness is easy to measure.
Surface thermodynamics is harder.
But surface behaviour determines the outcome.
We are moving from:
“Add more insulation”
To:
“Control the surface.”
Ultra thin films are not replacing all insulation. They are redefining where performance begins.
Stop heat at the boundary, and the interior stays stable.
That is how something a quarter of a millimetre thick can outperform materials 100 times thicker.
It is not about mass.
It is about physics.
U.S. Department of Energy – Insulation and Radiant Heat
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/insulation
Nature – Radiative Cooling Materials Research
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1380-1
U.S. EPA – Urban Heat Island Effect
https://www.epa.gov/heatislands
Super Therm® Testing and Results
https://neotechcoatings.com/super-therm-testing-and-results/
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