New Biomimetic Heat Insulation Material Similar To Polar Bear Hair

The reporter learned from University of Science and Technology of China that Professor Yu Shuhong of the Chemistry Department of the school studied the hollow structure of a polar bear's hair and expanded it to block material consisting of many hair.

The research results were published in the Journal of chemistry of cell publishing in June 6th.

The polar bear's hair has evolved to perfect its insulation in cold and humid environment, making it an ideal model for synthetic thermal insulation materials.

By assembling synthetic carbon fiber, we can design an elastic lightweight material, which will not be significantly aging during the service life and can absorb heat. "

Yu Shuhong said.

Unlike human or other mammalian hair, the polar bear's hair is hollow, and each hair has a cavity structure.

The shape and spacing of these cavities form their unique white shells. In fact, the polar bear's hair is pparent, and the light reflects inside, causing light and looking like white.

At the same time, this also gives them significant insulation and hydrophobicity, which is suitable for artificial insulation materials.

"The hollow core restricts the thermal convection, and the hollow structure also makes the single hairs lighter. This is one of the most prominent advantages in material science," said Liu Jianwei, an associate professor at University of Science and Technology of China. They simulated millions of hollow carbon tubes, each carbon tube equivalent to a polar bear hair and wrapped them in the aerogel like macaroni.

The researchers found that the hollow tube inspired by polar bear hair was lightweight, thermal insulation and almost unaffected by water. This is a convenient function for polar bears to keep warm while swimming and keep insulation under moist conditions.

Another advantage is that this new material has super elasticity compared to the polar bear's hair, which further improves its applicability in engineering.

The researchers focus on the related industrial use of the material, and the next step is to expand the production of the present thermal insulation from a centimeter to a meter scale.

And explore its applications in aerospace and other extreme conditions.