Smart clothes: graphene smart textiles let you "cool and warm freely"
Smart clothes: graphene smart textiles let you "cool and warm freely"
Smart clothes: graphene smart textiles let you "cool and warm freely"
Graphene thermal intelligent material.
The national graphene Institute, University of Manchester, UK ( NGI@UoM ）Using the extraordinary thermal properties and flexibility of graphene, the scientists of have made an intelligent adaptive garment and demonstrated the dynamic thermal radiation control effect of the garment. The results also lay a foundation for the new application of interactive infrared display technology and hidden infrared communication technology.
The radiation energy of human body is in the form of electromagnetic wave, which belongs to infrared spectrum (blackbody radiation). In hot climate, infrared transparent textiles can be used to reduce body temperature, while in need of heat preservation, fabrics based on infrared shielding principle can reduce the heat loss of the body.
In 2004, graphene with single atom thickness was isolated for the first time in Manchester University. The potential use of this material is very wide. With the development of research, graphene at the atomic level has been commercialized in the fields of battery, mobile phone and automobile. In their project, NGI scientists used graphene layers to control the thermal radiation on the surface of textiles.
Professor Coskun kocabas, project director, said: "the control of thermal radiation is very necessary for some key applications. For example, cooling in hot climate and heat preservation in low temperature. The potential applications of the new technology include infrared display, infrared communication and adaptive package
Previously, the kocabas team used graphene to make thermal camouflage suits that could "trick" infrared cameras. On this basis, the new technology not only makes the thermal radiation control more intelligent, but also integrates with the current cotton spinning technology.
To confirm this, researchers developed a prototype product lined with T-shirts. The product allows the wearer to send encoded information that is invisible to the naked eye but readable by an infrared camera.
Professor kocabas said: "we have demonstrated the possibility of transforming graphene's unique optical properties into new technologies. It shows properties that conventional materials do not have. In the next stage, we hope that this technology can be used to solve the dynamic thermal management problem of the earth orbit satellite - the orbit satellite will withstand the test of extreme high temperature when facing the sun, and will freeze when it is in the shadow of the earth. Our technology can adjust the satellite temperature by controlling the thermal radiation to achieve dynamic thermal management on demand. "
Professor Kostya Novoselov, the researcher, added: "this magical adaptive effect is essentially due to the unique band structure of graphene. It's very exciting to see it spawn high-tech applications. "