Our human body absorbs and loses heat largely through infrared radiation that peaks at around 10 µm. However, despite thousands of years’ development, none of our clothing systems are capable of controlling this major heat exchange channel. The infrared properties of both clothing and our own skin are fixed at a nearly constant level, regardless of whether one feels hot or cold. In contrast, many species in nature have evolved elegant strategies to manipulate light for the purpose of cooling and surviving harsh environments. For instance, Saharan silver ants feature triangular shaped hairs that can reflect near-infrared rays according to the position of the sun to keep themselves cool, while the geckos of Madagascar have photonic skins with changeable colors that can blend in the environment to hide from predators. In this talk, I will discuss a clothing textile that is capable of dynamically gating infrared radiation through the fabric in response to personal thermal discomfort. We show that by simply coating triacetate-cellulose fibers with a thin layer of carbon nanotubes we can modulate the infrared radiation through the fabric by as much as 35% as a function of the relative humidity of skin. Both opportunities and challenges ahead will also be discussed if time permits.

Gating infrared radiation in a textile

2019 Fall National Meeting

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