Cooling performance of a bioinspired micro-crystal-bars coated composite fabric with solar reflectance. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Yuxiang; Shou, Dahua; Shang, Songmin; Chiu, Ka-Lok; Jiang, Shouxiang
• Is Part Of: Composites communications. Volume 27(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Saharan silver ant -- ZnO micro-Crystal-bar -- Thermal management -- Bioinspired textile
• DOI: 10.1016/j.coco.2021.100814
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2452-2139

Abstract

Abstract: Inspired by the cooling performance of the micro-hair from the Saharan silver ants (SSant), we fabricated a novel solar heat shielding fabric with synthesized zinc oxide (ZnO) micro-crystal-bar (MCB) composite. The ZnO MCB composite coating can significantly improve the solar reflectivity of fabric from 69% to 95% (0.4–1.8 μm). A cooling performance experiment reveals that the surface temperature of the modified fabric reduced by 7.6%–17.7% compared to that of an unmodified reference. Furthermore, the results also showed that the modified fabrics have a high far infrared emittance, which can promote effective long wavelength infrared (LWIR) radiation (5–14 μm) and lead to heat dissipation. More so, other important attributes, such as thermal conductivity, solar power intensity and transmittance, as well as mechanical property, also improved significantly after the treatment. In summary, this work provides a unique strategy for the design and fabrication of thermal management fabric for solar heat shielding. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: A new type of bionic ZnO MCB coating was used for fabricating solar heat shielding composite fabric. The cooling mechanism is inspired by Saharan silver ant micro-hairs. The ZnO MCB coating possesses a high solar light reflectance (＞95%). Given its availability in mass production, this technical roadmap may benefit the thermal management textile industry.