Squid skin-inspired cup cozy will keep your hands cool and your coffee
hot
Engineers develop method for economical mass production of insulating
material

Date:
March 28, 2022
Source:
University of California - Irvine
Summary:
Drawing inspiration from cephalopod skin, engineers have invented an
adaptive fabric that can be used to insulate the contents of coffee
cups, to-go boxes and containers of almost any size. In a new paper,
the researchers describe the manufacturing process they developed
which enables economical mass production of their novel material.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In the future, you may have a squid to thank for your coffee staying
hot on a cold day. Drawing inspiration from cephalopod skin, engineers
at the University of California, Irvine invented an adaptive composite
material that can insulate beverage cups, restaurant to-go bags, parcel
boxes and even shipping containers.


==========================================================================
The innovation is an infrared-reflecting metallized polymer film developed
in the laboratory of Alon Gorodetsky, UCI associate professor of chemical
and biomolecular engineering. In a paper published today in Nature Sustainability, Gorodetsky and his team members describe a large-area
composite material that regulates heat by means of reconfigurable metal structures that can reversibly separate from one another and come back
together under different strain levels.

"The metal islands in our composite material are next to one another
when the material is relaxed and become separated when the material is stretched, allowing for control of the reflection and transmission of
infrared light or heat dissipation," said Gorodetsky. "The mechanism
is analogous to chromatophore expansion and contraction in a squid's
skin, which alters the reflection and transmission of visible light." Chromatophore size changes help squids communicate and camouflage
their bodies to evade predators and hide from prey. Gorodetsky said by mimicking this approach, his team has enabled "tunable thermoregulation"
in their material, which can lead to improved energy efficiency and
protect sensitive fingers from hot surfaces.

A key breakthrough of this project was the UCI researchers' development
of a cost-effective production method of their composite material at application- relevant quantities. The copper and rubber raw materials
start at about a dime per square meter with the costs reduced further
by economies of scale, according to the paper. The team's fabrication
technique involves depositing a copper film onto a reusable substrate
such as aluminum foil and then spraying multiple polymer layers onto the
copper film, all of which can be done in nearly any batch size imaginable.

"The combined manufacturing strategy that we have now perfected in our
lab is a real game changer," said Gorodetsky. "We have been working
with cephalopod- inspired adaptive materials and systems for years but previously have only been able to fabricate them over relatively small
areas. Now there is finally a path to making this stuff roll-by-roll in
a factory." The developed strategy and economies of scale should make
it possible for the composite material to be used in a wide range of applications, from the coffee cup cozy up to tents, or in any container
in which tunable temperature regulation is desired.

The invention will go easy on the environment due its environmental sustainability, said lead author Mohsin Badshah, a former UCI postdoctoral scholar in chemical and biomolecular engineering. "The composite material
can be recycled in bulk by removing the copper with vinegar and using established commercial methods to repurpose the remaining stretchable
polymer," he said.

The team conducted universally relatable coffee cup testing in their
laboratory on the UCI campus, where they proved they could control the
cooling of the coffee. They were able to accurately and theoretically
predict and then experimentally confirm the changes in temperature for
the beverage-filled cups.

The was also able to achieve a 20-fold modulation of infrared radiation transmittance and a 30-fold regulation of thermal fluxes under
standardized testing conditions. The stable material even worked well
for high levels of mechanical deformation and after repeated mechanical cycling.

"There is an enormous array of applications for this material," said Gorodetsky. "Think of all the perishable goods that have been delivered
to people's homes during the pandemic. Any package that Amazon or another company sends that needs to be temperature-controlled can use a lining
made from our squid-inspired adaptive composite material. Now that we can
make large sheets of it at a time, we have something that can benefit
many aspects of our lives." Joining Gorodetsky and Badshah on this
project were Erica Leung, who recently graduated UCI with a Ph.D. in
chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Aleksandra Strzelecka and
Panyiming Liu, who are current UCI graduate students.

The research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
the Advanced Research Projects Agency -- Energy and the Air Force Office
of Scientific Research. A provisional patent for the technology and manufacturing process has been applied for.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Irvine. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
*
YouTube_video:_Rising_Tide:_UCI_Professor_Alon_Gorodetsky_Turns_Science
Fiction_into_Reality ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Mohsin Ali Badshah, Erica M. Leung, Panyiming Liu, Aleksandra Anna
Strzelecka, Alon A. Gorodetsky. Scalable manufacturing
of sustainable packaging materials with tunable
thermoregulability. Nature Sustainability, 2022; DOI:
10.1038/s41893-022-00847-2 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220328133753.htm

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