What is the principle of a fabric that can automatically adjust the temperature developed by an American university?

All the year round, we need to add or subtract clothes according to the change of temperature, which may seem to us to be a very common thing, but a new invention may surprise you. According to a new invention of the University of Maryland, they are studying a subversive brand-new fabric, which can adapt to the change of temperature and "become" clothes that meet the comfort of the wearer. This fabric is coated with carbon nanotubes, which can change the spacing of their own fibers when environmental conditions such as heat and humidity change.

For example, if the environment is humid and sultry, the fibers of the fabric will have large pores, allowing heat to quickly pass through and cool down. On the contrary, if it is in a dry or cold environment, the fabric will avoid heat loss and play a role in keeping warm. If the clothes we usually wear are suitable for a single environment, then this brand-new fabric will bring some different changes and make multi-directional changes in different environments.

Ouyang Min, a professor of physics at the University of Maryland, believes that in our daily life, there are only two choices to adjust the temperature from wearing, but brand-new smart fabrics provide different choices.

A research team from the University of Maryland recently published a paper in the American magazine Science, saying that they have developed a fabric that can automatically adjust the temperature and humidity according to changes, which is expected to be used to make "smart" clothes.

This fabric is made of special yarns covered with conductive carbon nanotubes. This kind of yarn consists of two composite materials, one is water-absorbing and the other is water-repellent. When the body is warm and humid due to sweating, the fabric can let more heat radiation pass through. When the weather is cold and dry, fabric can reduce heat loss.

Under wet conditions, the fibers in the fabric will curl, thus opening the holes in the fabric, changing the electromagnetic coupling effect of carbon nanotubes and "releasing" the thermal radiation in the body. This change can happen very quickly, and people realize the cold before they realize the heat. On the contrary, when the body temperature drops, this mechanism can block the thermal radiation and keep warm. This kind of fabric is made of special yarn covered with conductive carbon nanotubes.