A team led by Liangbing Hu, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Maryland, recently published a paper on the new thermo-regulated textile in ACS Nano, a highly thermally conductive textile fabric made of BNN ) And polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), according to "nanotechweb.org", BNNS has an in-plane thermal conductivity of up to 2000 W / (mK), and researchers have successfully exploited this capability with 3D printing technology to The highly ordered way to create aligned, uniform and dense nanofibers proves their fabrics exhibit superior cooling and super toughness.
Compared with pure polyvinyl alcohol or cotton fabrics, nanocomposite fiber materials to remove heat from the body more than 1.5 to 2 times the efficiency, thermal conductivity 55% higher than commercial cotton, in fact, Liangbing Hu said the measured Finished materials, its thermal conductivity up to 0.078W / (mK), tensile strength is as high as 355MPa.
(Source: From Research Paper)
At present, commercially available personal use of cool textile fabrics, mostly through the removal of excess moisture (moisture wicking) to cool the body, if the body does not sweat, the effect will be discounted; other cooling technology also depends on the phase change material A substance that delays the temperature rise and fall), air-cooled textiles, and liquid-cooled textiles, but these textiles are bulky, expensive and consume large amounts of electricity.
The researchers said simple, low-cost nanofiber textiles may be one of the most practical results, it is estimated in the summer can reduce a person's body surface temperature of 2 degrees. The team is now further to improve the cooling performance of textiles, the future consideration Mass production, then commercialization.