Passive-cooling mica-TiO2/thermoplastic polyurethane films with enhanced gas-barrier property

Passive cooling technology is currently a hot research topic because it can achieve cooling without external energy input, significantly reduce cooling costs and mitigate global warming. At present, passive cooling technology is mainly used in construction, transportation, electronic equipment, and other fields, but most passive cooling materials do not have gas barrier performance, which limits the application of passive cooling technology in inflatable structures such as gas film buildings, blimp bladders and other fields, so a material that has both passive cooling and gas barrier performance is needed. In this paper, PXTPU composites were prepared by melt blending mica-TiO2 with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). PXTPU not only achieves passive cooling above 10? with the excellent reflectivity of TiO2 in mica-TiO2, but also achieves 61.1% or even 74.5% enhancement of gas barrier capacity with the high orientation of lamellar mica in mica-TiO2. In addition, PXTPU also exhibited good thermal stability and mechanical properties exceeding 31.2 MPa breaking strength and 210.6% breaking elongation. Therefore, PXTPU composites show great potential in inflatable structures for outdoor work, expanding the application field of passive cooling technology.

Automated summary

Passive cooling technology is a hot research topic as it can achieve cooling without external energy input, reduce cooling costs, and mitigate global warming. However, most passive cooling materials lack gas barrier performance, limiting their application in inflatable structures. This paper presents the development of PXTPU composites, which have both passive cooling and gas barrier performance, showing great potential in expanding the application field of passive cooling technology, particularly in inflatable structures for outdoor work.