UCIの技術者が、絶縁材料の経済的な大量生産方法を開発 UCI engineers develop method for economical mass production of insulating material
2022-03-28 カリフォルニア大学校アーバイン校（UCI）
・この技術革新は、カリフォルニア大学化学・生体分子工学部のAlon Gorodetsky准教授の研究室で開発された、赤外線を反射する金属化ポリマーフィルムによるものです。
・Gorodetsky教授は「複合材料に含まれる金属アイランドは、材料が弛緩しているときは隣り合っており、材料が引き伸ばされると離れるので、赤外線の反射・透過や熱放散を制御することができます。このメカニズムは、イカの皮膚の色素斑の伸縮に類似しており、可視光の反射と透過を変化させることができるのです。」
＜関連情報＞
- https://news.uci.edu/2022/03/28/squid-skin-inspired-cup-cozy-will-keep-your-hands-cool-and-your-coffee-hot/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00847-2
温度調節が可能なサステイナブルパッケージング材料のスケーラブルな製造方法 Scalable manufacturing of sustainable packaging materials with tunable thermoregulability
Mohsin Ali Badshah,Erica M. Leung,Panyiming Liu,Aleksandra Anna Strzelecka &Alon A. Gorodetsky
Nature Sustainability (2022) Published: 28 March 2022
Abstract
The implementation of innovative packaging solutions in the food and beverage industry is playing an increasingly important role in driving the global transformation towards sustainability. Within this context, the metallized polymer films most widely used for packaging, which feature static infrared reflecting properties, need to be replaced by green and low-cost alternative materials with highly desirable dynamic thermoregulability. Here we demonstrate the scalable manufacturing of squid-skin-inspired sustainable packaging materials with tunable heat-management properties. The reported composites feature a low estimated starting material cost of around US$0.1 m−2, sizes comparable to those of common metallized plastic films, the ability to modulate infrared transmittance by >20-fold and heat fluxes by >30 W m−2 upon actuation with strain, and functional robustness after mechanical deformation or cycling. Furthermore, the composites demonstrate excellent performance in routine practical packaging scenarios, as exemplified by their ability to control the cooling of a model warm beverage within a standard paper container used daily by most adults in the USA. Such materials could represent a technological solution that addresses the combined cost, performance and sustainability pressures facing the food and beverage packaging industry.
