Stanford University engineers have developed an inexpensive fabric, based on the plastic. And if it is used to create shirts and dresses, she will be able to better and more efficiently cool the person’s body than it does today Clothes made of natural or synthetic fabric.
The researchers suggest that a new type of textile created by them could become the basis for modern clothing that will allow a person to feel comfortable even in the heat and lack of air conditioning.
In addition, “if it is possible to cool the person, and not a building, for example, where he lives or works, it will save energy,” says one of the authors of the development and Tsui (Yi Cui).
The new material allows the human body to get rid of the heat in two ways. It cools the skin, allowing perspiration to evaporate through the fabric (but some clothes already capable of such “tricks”). In addition, plastic textiles allows heat (body emits it in the form of infrared radiation) to pass through and thus leaving space for the same or a dress shirt and thereby further cool the body.
As a result, the person will feel as if the room a few degrees cooler than if he wore clothing such as cotton.
Recall that all the objects, including the human body, reducing its temperature, emitting in the area around the infrared (invisible and harmless).
For example, the blankets warm person due to trapping heat that comes from the body, and keep it close to your body. For this reason, we initially cold when we go to bed, but then we warmed.
By the way, the work of night vision devices is based on the capture of thermal radiation emitted from the body (this, too, is successfully fighting).
“From 40 to 60 percent of our body heat is dissipated in the form of infrared radiation, when we sit in the office, – says Professor Shanhuey Fan (Shanhui Fan) -. But until now, there was no research on the design of special textiles, which take into account these thermal factors. ”
Specialists in the design of its cooling textiles combined in a single product of nanotechnology, photonics and chemical methods. As a result, they gave polyethylene (plastic, which we often use in their lives) near the desired characteristics. It allows heat radiation, air and water vapor to pass through it and remain opaque to visible light.
The easiest attribute – the transmission of infrared radiation – characteristic of ordinary plastic food film. However, such plastic impermeable to water, which makes it useless as a garment. However, engineers have found a solution to the problem.
Firstly, they found a variant polyethylene having a particular nanostructure opaque to visible light but transparent for infrared radiation. It provides removal of heat from the body.
Then the experts modified industrial polyethylene, treating it with special chemicals to the molecules of water vapor can evaporate through the nanopore in the plastic. This, according to In-Chun Hsu (Po-Chun Hsu), has allowed plastics to “breathe” as a natural fiber.
In the end, researchers have created a three-layer variant of textiles by combining two sheets of cotton mesh processed polyethylene, giving the whole structure strength and thickness.
A comparison revealed that cotton fabric makes the surface of the skin a little warmer than the cooling textiles. According to the researchers, this difference means that people in the new material will feel comfortable in the heat, and he does not need to include a fan or air conditioning.
Experts continue their work on new material in several ways, by adding to it more color, texture and other important characteristics. In other words, here comes into play not only science, but also fashion.
In addition, developed textiles, according to scientists, opens up new avenues for research in the field of cooling and heating facilities without the use of energy. Now they are also thinking about the mass production of new items.
The results are described in the scientific journal Science.