I-Corps: A Lightweight, Low-Cost, Liquid-Metal Cooling Vest for Prolonged Cooling

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为高热量工作环境（如造船厂，铸造厂，锅炉车间，采矿和建筑工地）开发个人冷却系统，工人暴露于热衰竭。其他潜在市场还存在于医疗、体育、应急响应、军事和动物护理领域。该产品将在全球个人制冷服装市场展开竞争。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种基于传导的冷却循环技术，该技术使用高导热流体金属镓合金。镓合金在室温下呈液态，俗称液态金属（LM）。由于其流体性质，可以使用低功率泵将LM泵入微流体通道。此外，LM的导电性（16.5W/m·K）是水的28倍，与基于对流的冷却循环不同，它有助于在一秒钟内通过传导吸收热量。传统的制冷冷却循环需要一个高能耗的压缩机来减少传热时间。低功率导热传热以及微流体LM流动允许LM被用作新型个人冷却系统的主冷却剂。结果是一种重量轻，低功耗，低成本，LM可穿戴个人冷却系统，可以提供一整天的高温冷却。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a personal cooling system for high-heat work environments such as shipyards, foundries, boiler workshops, and mining and construction sites where workers are exposed to heat exhaustion. Additional potential markets exist in medical, sports, emergency response, military, and animal care fields. The product will compete in the global personal cooling garment market. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a conduction-based, cooling cycle technology using highly thermally conductive fluidic metal, gallium alloy. Gallium alloy is liquid at room temperature and is commonly known as liquid metal (LM). Due to its fluidic nature, LM can be pumped into a microfluidic channel using a low-power pump. Also, LM is 28 times more conductive (16.5W/m·K) than water, which helps absorb heat in a second by conduction, unlike the convection-based cooling cycle. Conventional refrigeration cooling cycles require a high power-consuming compressor to reduce heat transfer time. Low power conduction-based heat transfer along with microfluidic LM flows allow the LM to be used as the primary coolant in the novel personal cooling system. The outcome is a lightweight, low-power, low-cost, LM wearable personal cooling system that can provide day-long high cooling.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.