Researchers at the University of Maryland say they created a fabric that responds to its wearer by adjusting the amount of heat that passes through the material.
If the user is sweating, for example, on a hot summer day, the fabric removes heat. But when the temperature is lower and the air is drier, then, according to the researchers, the fabric becomes more compact and retains the warmth of the user's body. The researchers' article "Dynamic activation of infrared radiation in textiles" was published in the journal Science.
YuHuang Wang - U-Md. Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who co-authored the study, said that he foresees a time in the not-so-distant future, when clothing becomes a “secondary skin” that helps people save energy and reduce air conditioning costs. and heating. The less intense or completely turn them off.
“This technology would allow it to regulate its local environment, and it would give people much wider access to the heating and cooling conditions inside the building,” said Van.
“How much you could make people change their habits,” he said, referring to wearing clothes to offset energy costs, “is certainly an additional problem.”
According to the Department of Energy, three-quarters of homes in the United States have air conditioners installed, which consume about 6 percent of all electricity produced in the United States. The agency reports that in addition to the fact that the owners annually cost the owners 29 billion dollars (about 2.10 billion rupees), they emit about 117 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air.
The study also offers a potential solution to another long-standing problem that over the years has inspired countless patents like the Inspector Gadget gadget: creating clothes that actively cools the wearer.
In 2015, Finnish researchers, inspired by the design of the human cardiovascular system, developed “a way to add plastic film containing microscopic channels filled with liquid to jackets and other clothing,” the Daily Mail reports.
The newspaper reports that by filling the clothes with liquid, the clothes may be cooled or provide heat insulation.
According to The Telegraph, researchers looking for new solutions to power shortages found air-conditioned garments equipped with small battery-powered fans that were reported to provide cooling air for up to 11 hours at a time.
Fabric created by U-Md. Researchers do not trust batteries or liquids.
Start with a specially designed thread coated with a conductive metal. When conditions are warm and wet, for example, when the user is exercising and sweating, the threads of the thread activate the coating, which in turn deforms the threads of the thread, bringing them together. As soon as this happens, the researchers say that the pores of the fabric open, allowing trapped heat to escape. However, when conditions are cold, the process reverses and heat stays close to the body.
To explain the origin of the concept of tissue, Van compares the human body with an engine that covers food energy for heating.
“If we are completely naked, our body is the perfect radiator that radiates heat so quickly,” he said. “Most of our clothing is actually a good radiator, but we do not control this radiator, we wanted to create a mechanism to control the heat released by the body.”
Although the fabric has been developing for about five years, Wang said that researchers are just beginning the process of turning it into a commercial product, probably initially as a type of sportswear. He said that the fabric can be dyed, knitted and washed, offering the same strength as other commercial fabrics. Wang said he believes that this clothing can be used for people other than cyclists and skiers.
“Performance can be effective for children who need a constant temperature, as well as for older people or people who are sick,” she said.8
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