Bionic research of photothermal conversion performance based on butterfly wings

Abstract

As the demand for sustainable construction practices increases, innovative ideas are being explored for the construction of insulated wall panels in contemporary buildings. The butterfly is a remarkable organism that uses a thermostatic mechanism to regulate its body temperature. The microstructure on the surface of its wing scales is responsible for reflecting incident light multiple times, extending the optical path, and increasing the light absorption, thus ensuring that its body temperature remains stable. This microstructure, also known as the light capture structure, has been simulated and analyzed using ANSYS software. The results indicate that this structure can improve the light‐thermal conversion efficiency in the illuminated region, thus increasing the local heat using light radiation. Additionally, due to the unique arrangement of units in the light capture structure, the heat exchange rate with air is significantly reduced, resulting in a low heat flux. Therefore, if this butterfly‐like trapped light structure is applied to the insulated wall panels, the requirements of modern architectural concepts can be realized.