SBIR Phase I: Manufacturing USA: Ultra-thin radiative-cooling fabric

SBIR 第一阶段：美国制造：超薄辐射冷却织物

• 批准号: 1913606
• 负责人: Gregg Young
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: MetaRe,Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-08-01 至 2022-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1913606&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Manufacturing; USA; Ultra

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is twofold. (1) Capturing business opportunities in the athleisure market by providing functional textiles with radiative cooling capabilities. As climate change has led to more hot summer days, clothing with advanced cooling features will have significant public safety values. The global cooling fabrics market is projected to grow at a 10% annual rate from $1.8 Billion to $2.9 Billion by 2021. Cooling fabrics conventionally rely upon sweat wicking, and no major brand has incorporated radiative cooling technologies in textiles. MetaRE fabrics will address this unmet need by delivering a novel cooling technology substantially more efficient than sweat wicking. (2) Alleviating the environmental impact of the textile industry. Each year, 63 million tons of synthetic fibers are produced. These fibers turn into 300 billion square meters of textiles, which go through the clothing value chain, and ultimately turn into textile waste. This vast and growing stream of textile waste is creating a massive environmental burden. By introducing nanoscale air voids into fibers, MetaRE fabrics will reduce the consumption of petrochemicals by 30% and will use 50% less dye to reach desired color brightness and saturation.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will establish design and manufacturing technologies for creating radiative cooling fibers and fabrics. The prototype polymer fabrics will have three unique features: superior opacity, radiative cooling, and brilliant metallic luster, all resulting from nanoscale air filaments embedded in the fibers. The radiative cooling feature, in particular, is due to a combination of strong and broadband reflectivity of the fiber in the solar spectrum and high emissivity of the fiber in the thermal radiation spectrum. Research objectives of this SBIR Phase I project include: Develop melt and wet extrusion recipes to produce nanostructured polymer fibers with proper morphology, optical and thermodynamic properties, and mechanical strength; Demonstrate optical, thermodynamic, and mechanical performance of radiative cooling fabrics. To overcome obstacles to industrial adoption, the fiber production processes will require relatively minor changes to existing fiber extrusion equipment, and fibers produced will need to meet mechanical and throughput requirements comparable to those for conventional fibers. A set of optical and thermodynamic techniques and tools will be developed to characterize the spectral properties of the fibers and fabrics from the ultraviolet to the long-wavelength mid-infrared and to quantify the radiative cooling capabilities of the finished fabrics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是双重的。(1)通过提供具有辐射冷却能力的功能性纺织品，捕捉运动休闲市场的商机。随着气候变化导致炎热的夏季天气增加，具有先进降温功能的服装将具有重大的公共安全价值。到2021年，全球降温面料市场预计将以10%的年增长率从18亿美元增长到29亿美元。冷却面料传统上依赖汗水排出，没有一个主要品牌将辐射冷却技术应用到纺织品中。MetaRE织物将通过提供一种比排汗效率高得多的新型冷却技术来满足这一未得到满足的需求。(2)减轻纺织业对环境的影响。每年生产6300万吨合成纤维。这些纤维变成了3000亿平方米的纺织品，这些纺织品通过服装价值链，最终变成了纺织品废物。这一巨大且不断增长的纺织废料流正在造成巨大的环境负担。通过在纤维中引入纳米气泡，MetaRE织物将减少30%的石化消耗，并将减少50%的染料使用量，以达到所需的颜色亮度和饱和度。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将建立设计和制造技术，以创造辐射冷却纤维和织物。原型聚合物织物将具有三个独特的特征：卓越的不透明度、辐射冷却和灿烂的金属光泽，所有这些都是由嵌入纤维中的纳米级空气细丝产生的。辐射冷却特性尤其是由于光纤在太阳光谱中的强的宽带反射率和在热辐射光谱中的高发射率的组合。该SBIR第一阶段项目的研究目标包括：开发熔融和湿挤出配方，以生产具有适当形态、光学和热力学特性以及机械强度的纳米结构聚合物纤维；展示辐射冷却织物的光学、热力学和机械性能。为了克服工业应用的障碍，纤维生产过程将需要对现有纤维挤出设备进行相对较小的更改，所生产的纤维将需要满足与传统纤维相当的机械和吞吐量要求。将开发一套光学和热力学技术和工具，以表征从紫外线到长波长中红外的纤维和织物的光谱特性，并量化成品织物的辐射冷却能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。