1 research outputs found
Three-Dimensional Printed Thermal Regulation Textiles
Space cooling is a predominant part
of energy consumption in people’s
daily life. Although cooling the whole building is an effective way
to provide personal comfort in hot weather, it is energy-consuming
and high-cost. Personal cooling technology, being able to provide
personal thermal comfort by directing local heat to the thermally
regulated environment, has been regarded as one of the most promising
technologies for cooling energy and cost savings. Here, we demonstrate
a personal thermal regulated textile using thermally conductive and
highly aligned boron nitride (BN)/polyÂ(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composite
(denoted as a-BN/PVA) fibers to improve the thermal transport properties
of textiles for personal cooling. The a-BN/PVA composite fibers are
fabricated through a fast and scalable three-dimensional (3D) printing
method. Uniform dispersion and high alignment of BN nanosheets (BNNSs)
can be achieved during the processing of fiber fabrication, leading
to a combination of high mechanical strength (355 MPa) and favorable
heat dispersion. Due to the improved thermal transport property imparted
by the thermally conductive and highly aligned BNNSs, better cooling
effect (55% improvement over the commercial cotton fiber) can be realized
in the a-BN/PVA textile. The wearable a-BN/PVA textiles containing
the 3D-printed a-BN/PVA fibers offer a promising selection for meeting
the personal cooling requirement, which can significantly reduce the
energy consumption and cost for cooling the whole building