Dynamic gating of infrared radiation in a textile.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30733415.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aau1217.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The human body absorbs and loses heat largely through infrared radiation centering around a wavelength of 10 micrometers. However, neither our skin nor the textiles that make up clothing are capable of dynamically controlling this optical channel for thermal management. By coating triacetate-cellulose bimorph fibers with a thin layer of carbon nanotubes, we effectively modulated the infrared radiation by more than 35% as the relative humidity of the underlying skin changed. Both experiments and modeling suggest that this dynamic infrared gating effect mainly arises from distance-dependent electromagnetic coupling between neighboring coated fibers in the textile yarns. This effect opens a pathway for developing wearable localized thermal management systems that are autonomous and self-powered, as well as expanding our ability to adapt to demanding environments.