Warming up human body by nanoporous metallized polyethylene textile

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Textile Engineering

Background:

• Space heating represents a major energy consumption in buildings, leading to significant societal and environmental burdens.
• Wasted energy from heating unoccupied building spaces can be mitigated by focusing on personal heating solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a nanophotonic textile with tailored infrared (IR) properties for passive personal heating.
• To reduce building heating energy consumption and associated environmental impact.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a nanophotonic structure textile using nanoporous metallized polyethylene.
• Engineering the textile with an IR-reflective outer layer and an IR-transparent inner layer containing nanopores.
• Characterization of the textile's IR emissivity and thermal performance.

Main Results:

• The developed textile exhibits minimal IR emissivity (10.1%) on its outer surface, effectively reducing radiative heat loss.
• The textile allows for a 7.1°C decrease in the heating set-point compared to normal textiles.
• Performance significantly surpasses other radiative heating textiles by over 3°C.

Conclusions:

• The nanophotonic textile offers a cost-effective solution for passive personal heating, potentially saving over 35% of building heating energy.
• This technology can contribute to alleviating global energy consumption and climate change issues.
• The tailored IR properties of the textile provide a novel approach to energy-efficient thermal management.