Ad: Check out my sponsor and remove your personal information from the web at JoinDeleteMe.com/nighthawk and use code NIGHTHAWK for 20% off. DeleteMe international Plans: international.joindeleteme.com Thanks everyone for stopping by! I'm looking forward to reading your ideas for applications or improvements for this fabric. You can check out the earlier Patreon livestreams where we built the fiber blowing machine here: www.youtube.com/@NHiLExtra/streams If you'd like to go above and beyond in supporting these projects you can do so through Patreon: www.patreon.com/NightHawkProjects Thank you everyone for watching!
I wonder if that fabric would make good I.R. Clothing for the Military at night? Also, I wonder if finding a way to make Multiple Layers 'sealed together' Maybe with some of your 'Paint'. I think the porous fabric and the spaces you get from multiple layers are allowing light and heat to be trapped in the fabric allowing heat to have time to be absorbed.
Why not just make the fabric thicker? Like half a dozen runs of fabric making without ever peeling it, so it's all one sheet. That would make it more opaque, increase the thermal conductivity between the layers since they're fused together, and fill in the gossamer holes with more white fabric, to make it more reflective.
I have said so many times that true progress comes from passionate people in their garages. They always shout me down and tell me to trust the science.
@@peacefulscrimp5183 This DIY sky cooling series of videos wouldn't have been possible without the initial research papers that inspired it in the first place. I think you are conflating engineering with science. Also, the only difference between a lab and a garage is the car.
@@peacefulscrimp5183 This IS (amateur) Science, a more rigorous protocol and better equipment would provide faster, better, more accurate results worthy of publication but this is in essence experimental science and many of the multi-billion dollar research disciplines of today started with guys in their barns tinkering with stuff or out and about collecting/observing stuff.
In 2005-2006 I worked for a factory that made the fibers you are looking for. The fibers we made were much much smaller than what you made though. Nano scale in fact. We needed to send a sample in to a lab, with an electron microscope, to check the quality. I can tell you the basic set up, which looked very much like a steampunk assembly line, but it worked very well. Very much like spinning invisible spider webs onto a paper substrate, at 12 feet per second. To much to go into in a UA-cam comment, but I will email to you if you like. However, I can tell you a bit about what can happen, when people over look safety... Hint: It wasn't me that overlooked the safety, but the head engineer of the machine. Oh, and the total number of people that worked in the factory was 4. And that includes the president of said company. So a quick story of my shocking safety experience. The final area of this machine, the production area, is a conveyor belt, about 10 feet long. Inside the conveyor belt, between the top and bottom, is a large vacuum. Basically a large blower, blowing outside the factory, with the intake inside the conveyor. A paper substrate, about 4 feet wide, on a roll of paper about 1,000 feet long (possible longer. this roll of substrate is about 4 feet in diameter. you do the math) its very long. So the material that get melted down, the plastic, is cooked as it goes on its way from hopper to spray head. The spray head is a brass beam, with a few dozen outlets for the fiber, and compressed air inside the beam, spraying the plastic spider web. One of the things we did was watch the fabric spray, and get any lumps that form, off the finished material. Lumps from, insects, or webs that float around and get caught on the spray heads, and then fall off onto the substrate with the finished web product. Not a good thing, so we actively try to catch every one of them, as it was feeding in at 12 feet per second. I was at the end. To keep the paper straight, as it feeds onto the conveyor, there are a series of rollers for the paper to go around before it get onto the wind up roll. These rollers are pvc, with a metal pipe in the center. About 5 or 6 inches in diameter. About 6 of them. Its running at full speed, and I see a very large fluff ball, land on the other end of the machine (lots of air flowing). two of the other three people watching for these, tried and failed to grab it. I missed it too. But it cam off, and got stuck on on of the rollers, easily in reach. But no way am I getting my body inside that machine. But I did have a three foot long, 2" wrench. A perfect claw for snagging this huge booger. I got to scrape it off the roller. I get the wrench no closer to it than three feet, and over the factory noise, I hear a massive crack. My arm goes numb. And I get knocked on my ass. I thought that sound was the sound of dismemberment. My are was surely ripped off because I got too close, I though. I looked down, my arm was there, but it wouldn't move. I touched it with my other hand. Yep, its still there, but numb. And then I noticed I was sitting about 10 feet away from the machine, on the floor. With everyone looking at me. I just blinked. And doing so I could see the after image of looked like a lightning bolt. Before they could ask me anything, I said, "please tell me you all saw that". Two of them said yes. That was the biggest arc they have ever seen. At least three feet long, and bright as hell. Later I did the math. Electricity arcs at about 1" per 25,000 volts. So I figure that was nearly 1 million volts. Later, I had a word with the engineer. There must be something we could do to prevent that. Maybe putting a ground line on the back side of the rollers? maybe installing a static dissipaters' like we had on our jet fighter wings trailing edge? (retired USAF). So he let me play with the machine when it was offline while testing product. I am happy to say, using Christmas garland, stretched across the back of each roller, fixed that problem. 😶🌫
Jeesus man. the static buildup from having that piece of metal be charged by the plastic fabric tumbling around for a day or more would for sure have been able to generate a huge arc, even with the total load being small from the limited capacity in a metal cylinder that must have been a .....Shock. I'm just confused as to why they didn't spot this issue in design phase but maybe it's because of the times. These days you'd never get away with dangerous equipment like that, especially when it has a simple solution.
@@Louquethat Oh, they knew about it. They had tried to control it. But didnt put much thought into it. Figuring shit out like that is my superpower. They also had a power distribution box, that had a couple of dozen circuit breakers in it, many of which were 200 amps or more. With one of the 200 amp breakers, being held in the on position, by a broom handle wedged against it, because it kept popping. I asked the engineer about it, he said “it needs to be there. We cant afford to replace it with what we really need their… yet”
You need to submit that story to "Well There's Your Problem". They cover stuff like that all the time in their end-of-show segment "Safety Third", where they showcase listener OSHA nightmares.
I mentioned in the comments of the last video that I was concerned about using PLA for clothing because I don't think it can stand up to washing. I only realized after commenting that that would make hats or vests a good test bed, and was happy to see you go for a hat here. In terms of transferring heat to the emissive PLA, i think its important to remember that the body already has a way to do sub-ambient cooling with evaporative cooling ie sweat. Modern moisture wicking fabrics are really great and I first noticed how beneficial they can be when I took up biking. I have a long sleeve white shirt that keeps me significantly cooler than I would have expected because it wicks the sweat over a large surface area and biking adds airflow to help evaporation. So, it would be cool to see tests with your fabric in an against skin setting where sweat can help facilitate heat transfer. I think existing moisture wicking fabrics could give you a good benchmark of performance for your material. Anyway, great work!
Yeah, it would be nice if such fabrics worked for everyone, I'm always amazed to hear that they work for people since my skin is made sweaty by anything synthetic 😞 Glad they really do work for at least some people!
I'd like to see fibers created directly on the hat. I'm hoping that they will adhere reasonably well to the frame. We can create one thick layer, which should minimize the polar bear effect.
I did something simple to drastically reduce my homes heat absorption. My AC would run most of the daylight hours for half the year and the attic temps commonly were 165 to 170 degrees F. I looked at taking the dark green metal roof off and puting in an air gap and insulation panels but it was too expensive. I looked at powered attic fans but that required extensive modifying the gable vents. Then I ran across some of your videos and decided to check out painting the roof white. I have done so and now my attic temp, even at 4 or 5 in the afternoon when the outside temperatures are in the 95 to 98 degrees, is around 103 to 110 AND now my AC runs maybe 25% of the time instead of continuously. My bill was significantly lower these last two months. I didn't buy any $300 a gallon NASA spec paint, I bought a cheaper metal roof paint (from the big box store whose color is orange) called Metal-X and used a roller to apply it in one morning. Now the house is comfortable in the afternoon when before the inside temp would go up even with the AC running all the time. Amazing results and this channel gave me the clues.
Hopefully you live in a continually hot climate, because in the winter time you'll notice a difference too, but not a good one in lower temps. I live in a fairly temperate climate, but even here, I use more electricity during winter than in the summer (and that is with an electric heat pump system though granted an older one).
@@justinw1765 well, I live in NE Texas and being as I've worked Alaska, I think winters are mild in TX, haha. I'm sweating at anything over 75F so in winter I keep the house at 60. A couple of 1500watt plug in heaters do a whole 3 bedroom house so I'm not worried about not getting heat gain during winter days. Texas winter is only Nov thru Feb anyway and daytime temps are 45 to 65, I don't even wear a coat or jacket usually
@@bobjoatmon1993 Yeah, those are pretty mild temps, so it shouldn't make much of a difference. Even then, some kind of removable fabric or the like would be more ideal. Something that I've thought about for my own house is taking cardboard and pasting some kind of IR reflective material onto just one side with modified waterglass (and putting like short stilts on the corners), and then putting this in the attic. During the summer, have the shiny/reflective side facing up. During the winter, just flip it over and have the shiny side facing down. This allows IR (from the house) to pass through more in the summer while reflecting IR coming in from Solar heat gain, and conversely allowing some solar heat gain to come in during winter while reflecting the IR from the inside heating back down.
I think just a few days ago I realized how to get the data overlays to show up in the thermal camera footage but I haven't tested it yet. I'll try to make that happen for next time.
@@Nighthawkinlight Thanks for taking feedback and thanks for the super cool (hehe) videos!! Im currently sitting in a house with no central cooling and this would be so helpful!
i disagree. the numbers themselves don't matter since they aren't uniform across all areas. cooler is relative to the ambient temp. maybe the delta under and below ambient matters for calculations, but for a proof of concept the color is enough.
This guy is top notch. the best science UA-camr hands down no bs no trend chasing no over hyping or dumbing stuff down, always sticking to the concepts and the science, not fan boying over anyone or anything
How about putting your cloth behind a bifacial solar panel. It would reflect sunlight back to the back side of the solar panel and perhaps cool the panel which usually makes them more efficient.
*@NightHawkInLight* 11:50 If you aim the blowing output down, instead of sideways, the feed mechanism for the liquid can literally be a bucket connected to the tube. Either directly attached & rotating with the shaft, or as a funnel that goes into the tube a bit, if you make the container be air-tight except for a medium hole at the bottom, it will only flow out when air can get in to replace the same volume, that should limit the flow into the tube so it doesn't overflow. (The Teflon tube is also an elegant solution)
Yes, it would also make a more uniform pattern since gravity doesn't affect the ovality of the circle. The feed pipe can go through the shaft right down to the "nozzle" and be gravity fed. The high viscosity should make a seal so it doesn't overflow at the shaft. Maybe even the blower fan can be omitted and so reducing the impact of air turbulence on the strand.
@emanresutY omission of the blower fan would completely change how this even functions. The blower air doesn't just create turbulence on the strands coming out of the nozzle.... which is very small to begin with as you can see from the slow motion video, it's also responsible for removing just enough of the solvent from the mixture as it comes out of the nozzle before it hits the screen. If you remove the blower fan then you will have wet material hitting the screen in the setup as he has a designed. I'm sure you could work with distances and find a proper amount of height to go from the surface you are depositing on in your rig but I think you'd find that you need to be a dozen feet or higher and then you got a whole lot of other problems occurring in that setup
@@nickbrockelman The main reason for the blower is to propel the strand towards the screen. The amount of solvent and viscosity can surely be tweaked. But I wrote maybe.
@emanresutY I'm fully aware of what the job of the blower is. I'm not the one who suggested omitting it in the first place. I was replying to a comment above where they were saying that not using a fan and adjusting the machine to where it applies the strands downward, would allow gravity to carry the mixture through the machine. I'm saying that by orienting the machine to where the strands fall downward and omitting the blower fan will create a situation where the strands don't get dry enough before they reached the screen were there being deposited. The adjustment to be made here is as easy as putting the machine further away from deposit screen. Of course, many fine adjustments could be made in other places. like you say, less solvent or more material or whatever The Tweak May be. But the fact that the blower motor doesn't just blow the strands towards the deposit service but also evaporates just enough of the solvent to do so in a distance shorter than you would need if falling from the machine to the deposit surface with no air around it at all. Also having the air blow across the strands as they're being deposited gives you a measure of control over that variable if you do it from a gravity feed situation and no air is Flowing around the strands then the strange deposit could be influenced by something as simple as humidity. By applying a blower you get control over that variable easily.
@@sebbes333 you wouldn't want to do this because leaving gravity in charge of the flow rate into the machine is a bad idea. You may have differences in viscosity from your strand material from one batch to another that very just enough for this sensitive process to be affected. If you put it under pressure you can adjust how fast it applies material into the machine regardless of its viscosity.
Opacity seems largely solvable with a longer fiber generation time, though it does become a question of how durable and pliable the result is. Maybe there's a way of bonding the layers together (a light solvent spray?). Another question I have regarding the insulative properties, is it that the PLA is reflecting it's own emission so it has trouble escaping? If so maybe layering fabrics with different emissive ranges could help. This seems like the kind of thing you'd see in postdoc research at a university. Have you explored any options of working with one, or even finding a research grant for yourself? There's got to be some climate related grants this would be applicable to
Grants are often more hassle than they're worth to procure - when I researched such things there were many hoops to jump through. That was quite awhile ago though ...
PLA also causes less permanent microplastics, the more surface area it has the faster it degrades, and UV does a lot of the work there since it is not UV resistant... which might also be a problem in sunshine. It hydrolyzes... It is made from glucose, converted to lactic acid and then the crucial step, removing one H2O molecule to form monomers, apply heat and the monomers form polymers. So it wants that H2O or HO molecule back and if there is moisture and UV it hydrolyzes. And of course, heat makes everything happen faster. It is amazing material but it has its weaknesses, hydrolyzing is one of the biggest ones, the second is the glass transition temperature of amorphous PLA, which is only 60C, so anything made from PLA needs to be tested if it is semi-crystalline or amorphous. Maybe the semicrystallne state can withstand UV better, it is the more stable. If it softens greatly at 80C, it is amorphous, if it can withstand up to 150C then it is fully semicrystalline. Time is a factor when you cool it after melting but since this is solvent based... Have no clue, gut feeling says it is amorphous as the solvent evaporates so quickly. But.. PLA can be heat threated. Raise it up to 80C and then cool it down very slowly, over matter of hours from 80C to 40C. This can be repeated with every higher temps up to 140C. Heating and very slowly cooling allows the polymers to pack more efficiently, which increases its temperature resistance but i have no idea about UV resitance.
Fantastic comment. Does it pack more efficiently because it naturally wants to but can only do so if the temperature doesn't drop too fast, freezing it in a less desirable state? If it's an inherent property of PLA that it wants to arrange itself neatly, it seems to me we can probably take advantage of that somehow in other ways. It's crazy to think that the byproduct of making Greek yogurt is lactic acid. What it would it take to use that to make PLA? If you are making it from the raw lactic acid yourself, can you take advantage of that to more efficiently achieve denser packing by doing various tricks in your conversion process? If one combined both the solvent and some heat--but at lower temperatures--I wonder what the ideal combination would be.
@@think2086 this technique is not dependent on the type of material. It is a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics. It is called "annealing", very common for improving the material properties of metallic alloys. There are even computer algorithms which mimic this "shake a little bit then let it settle" behaviour in order to find minima and maxima of functions. The most obvious one is "simulated annealing", but evolutionary algorithms also do this, since random walks are essentially "shake it up a bit". Biological evolution is also based on this principle, the genetic mutations are the "shake it up a bit".
@@think2086 imagine that you have 100 marbles. You throw them up in the air. What are the odds that they fall in the ground forming a perfect 10 by 10 square grid? Very low, but not zero, right? Now imagine that you are doing this not in a room but inside a truck container that is being hauled at a terrible road and shaking all around. Now, even if you by chance get the perfect grid, the movement of the container is going to destroy the grid. Heating up is analogous to throwing the marbles up in the air and cooling down slowly is analogous to reducing the speed of the truck, so that you lock in a very unlikely structure when you eventually get it by chance. And that is the relationship to the second law of thermodynamics: the more unlikely the structure of the system, the lowest its entropy, by definition. Things like a broken glass reforming itself are possible, but so unlikely that we never see it happen in practice, hence the second law (entropy always increases with time in the universe as a whole even if it decreases locally).
I didn't know that PLA was biodegradable, thanks. My first thought was indeed "oh no don't do it outside" ;) Is the polyethylene oxide also biodegradable or would it still break down to microplastics?
I don't enjoy being that guy but I must say. Using this fabric for winter based ghillie suits would give many desirable effects, in theory. Polar bear effect for wearer, likely a severe reduction in thermal visibility for someone trying to spot the ghilie wearer. I'd like to see this made into a ghillie webbing for a hat, and tested in snow conditions.
PLA is biodegradable under very specific conditions that do not occur in nature on reasonable timescales! I love this series but I think veering away from PLA if not plastics in general would be highly preferable.
PLA needs to be at a minimum of about 70°C to begin to break down back into lactic acid. Before this occurs the most "biodegrading" PLA does is breaking down into tiny pieces, microplastics. So unless where he lives is very hot, it's not breaking down any time soon. That being said, I don't think we should be worrying so much about one guy experimenting in his backyard
I'm a longtime Patreon supporter, because to me your videos stay true to the oldschool UA-cam spirit in the best possible way: Interesting, original and educational content with scientific value, simple and effective presentation, no music, no unnecessary drama, no clickbait, straight to the point. And a cute parrot. Perfection! 👏 Keep it up!
Currently Studying composites and polymer this semester , this video is like the best representation of many of the processes taught. I learned a lot seeing it practically done with hardware store items....keep doing the great work...
What's it like ACTUALLY be a mad scientist? For real though, your ability to conceive of ideas and take meaningful, deliberate action to actually manifest your conceptions into reality is nothing short of inspirational and truly remarkable. The word genius is overused these days but 'designing and creating a new radiative cooling polymer, as well as an industrial process and machine to form that polymer into a usable fabric IN A BARN' is absolutely December 25, 1642 level genius.
Love your ideas and all the effort you put in to develop them. Of course, we all know of whole industries that began in home/garage workshops creating (in some cases) vast wealth for the inventors. The electric light bulb, the paperclip, desktop computers. I really hope you continue to refine the cloth. Thanks for all your hard work.
He has a poor understanding of the science involved and is ultimately wasting his time. I appreciate people who experiment and it’s a fun video. But this technology is a dead end. Thermodynamically it won’t work.
@@Wood.Architect theory has to fit reality, not the other way around, it's how old theories get abandoned and new, better ones corroborated. So far his experiments show that he's achieved something. Maybe it's a challenge for thermodynamics, maybe it's not what the thinks it is after all, it's yet to be seen
(1) So how about dielectric mirrors as a backing? They reflect like 99% of light (depending on the manufacturer). Dielectric mirrors are basically a laminate of thin layers of plastics with different refractive indices, constructively interfering to reflect light. (2) For the solar heating, you could try putting this white fabric over an IR flock sheet. (the ultra-dark fabric, that "action lab" showed on his channel) It would be interesting to see, if it would increase or decrease how much heat this ultra-black fabric absorbs under sunlight. One note: there seem to be two kinds of flock sheets: ones that absorb mostly visible, and others that absorb IR.
i think he is underestimating the value of a broadly emissive layer in the sandwich. I would bet that a black sheet thermally bonded to the white though a foil middle layer would improve the heat extraction of the composite material. ultimately we don't want a cold material we want to cool what the material is shading.
@@allisterhale8229 Well, we are talking about multiple usecases here: Clothes that make absorb less heat is one, clothes that insulate heat are also useful, clothes that heat up more in winter can also be useful. But yeah, if you have one layer that absorbs most of your body heat, conducts it into an emissive layer, and let the emissive layer radiate it out, then that would be cool.
@@williamblair1123 mylar is a brand owned by dupont. It's just PET plastic, that has been stretched in all directions. And there is a version a mylar that has a thin layer of aluminium foil. So the reflectivity of mylar is the same as aluminium foil, because it is aluminium foil, just thinner and sandwiched between two sheets of plastic.
Very good job with both the results and the length and pacing of the video. I think you did a great job striking the balance between showing your process, presenting results, and not making the video overly long, as you asked about in your previous video. Well done.
I found you years ago when I wanted to make my friend a home made storm glass for her birthday. To date this has been one of the coolest channels I've subscribed to. Looking forward to seeing your continued progress on this!
I sent an email saying something similar, but there's a Nonwoven Institute at NC State that might have some useful resources for making predictable fabrics out of this stuff. It has links to researchers across the country, there might be some nearby with relevant work you could maybe reach out to - I for one know that if I got an email from someone about my research I'd be down to talk to them about it for a bit.
The progress you have made with very humble expenditures (aside from the countless hours) is very impressive. You should consider applying for a grant from the DOE or maybe from DuPont (makers of tyvek), as they could probably adapt their machines to churn it out in huge quantiites. If this material fulfills its promise it has far reaching consequences in reducing the need for AC and providing economical cooling for third world countries. I imagine a tent made of this would be quite pleasant on hot summer days. I'm curious about its insulating properties, considering that Polar Bears need warming more than cooling. Does infrared light penetrate as easily as visible light? Thank you for your inspiring brilliant work!
i'd consider finding a way to make sure no patent trolls can, uh, patent troll it i think to be used day-to-day it would need to be made out of something that doesn't degrade in the sun (or at least, more on the level of cotton/hemp/linen fibres than plastic), as getting people to rely on plastic that will degrade for their cooling sounds like a disaster waiting to happen
He gotta lawyer up and ensure he owns the patent, or do something like give it to a trust that is obligated to just use the patent defensively and revoke the license of anyone that tries to engage in anti-competitive or anti-consumer practices, but otherwise let it be used as if it was public domain.
Nissan is testing this paint on their cars and they intend to launch a paint like this in the future. The challenge is for you in your laboratory to launch a weather-resistant paint before Nissan. More information: Nissan trialing cool paint technology Embedded metamaterial helps lower cabin temperatures and reduce energy usage, taking the heat out of summer
Didn't Mythbusters test this? A miniscule amount of heat comes through the sheet metal compared to the windows. I feel like they might have other reasons for studying this than just automotive paints.
@@AnttiBrax The point is not only to test, but to make the paint last as long as the automotive paint, whoever does this will make the new one millions of dollars.
@@AnttiBrax Nothing pops up when I try a search, but that's not odd for mythbusters stuff, for some odd reason. That said, no. Plenty of studies have been done showing car paint color has a massive effect on interior temperature.
Knowing that Nissan makes vehicles with paint that scratches when you look at them funny means that their eventual "success" still does not inspire confidence. Even IF it works properly it will make an existing problem worse. That is that white vehicles grow more mould due to the lower colour temperature. Such a layer of mould will negate the desired effect, as would any layer of dirt. Owners would be required to safely clean it without scratching. Those are two things that do not happen.
Man, you are amazing. I've been fascinated by this idea of radiative cooling ever since first seeing Tech Ingredients' video on it, and I love that you've singlehandedly done so much to develop these techniques. This really could be one large piece of the answer for decreasing our energy dependence, I believe.
I know what you mean, I'm not on patreon because I'm poor but I'm so invested, when I first saw that thread come out of that bottle and that mat pull off the screen I was so happy 😅
Would single thread pulling onto a spool and then weaving them together into threads be feasible? A similar setup to wet spinning This would allow the creation of threads of various thicknesses and strengths and create a weaved fabric
Weaved fabric seems like the best way to do it. It would increase the opacity while also increasing the density for better heat transfer. Additional benefits are durability and that it'd simply look better.
What is the difference between pulling a single thread and the "concept" demo he did at the beginning with the metal rake? I'm not familiar with thread pulling, but it seems like creating a thread from the liquid isn't very straightforward.
@@JustinLebo-d3t take a look at how nylon fibers are pulled, they go directly from a vat of raw materials onto a spool. If you go slowly enough, the "skin" of dried polymer at the top of your vat can be pulled into one continuous fiber. I think NileRed did one of his classic videos on Nylon 6,6
When thread is woven into fabric the basic way is an over under then reverse with under over. Did you ever make those hot pad holders when you were a kid? Weaving is a bit like that. Thats about the simplest way I can explain it. Blowing it onto the screen is not the same as weaving. It's more like making paper like he said. So is it more paper like or more like fabric? Great video. I'm an older lady who has sewn for over 50 years. I'm a bit slow on the mechanics of this but it's very interesting.
My Man, When I grow up... I hope I'm half as smart as you. I have a Long way to go! Sometimes I struggle simply recreating what you've already done at home. Your Videos Rejuvenate my Curiosity... Thank you NightHawkingLight, I thank you for reminding me of my Love of Science and a Hands on approach ❤️ 👍
My little advice - never grow up 😁 At least not inside. Cherish that curiosity of a young person, feed it and let it enjoy "the pleasure of finding things out" as Feynman did. Oh btw, if you like reading, try his book with the same title. You will see that science people can have a lot of fun in their lives too 😉 Good example here on youtube is Robert Murray-Smith. Watching him laugh when some experiments give results is amazing and contagious. And you can see instantly, that he is feeding that inner child curiosity all the time. Just a little quote from and old series Stargate SG1 episode "The Nox": OHPER: Knowledge takes time. Over the years we teach the young to be wise.
Ooo, relevant experiment for you from my notebook. Sometime back, I was working with graphene and long chain polymers in adaptation experiments, and did a similar trial to accumulate graphene-doped 'filament thread' for collection. I procured both MEK substitute and ethyl acetate 99% for lab use, and the substitute seems to have extra solvents as it smells very different, as well as the substitute performing vastly better on breaking down other polymers like GF-nylons. Anyway, spinning filament (more like a thread, not the 3D printing variant) works well for collection by dripping it to a thin string-like consistency, blowing a light stream of air over it to evap the solvents and wrapping it around a spinning cylinder turned into a large bobbin for collection. With a little fine tuning, you could also used die-sized rollers for better consistency. I used .035 v-grooved rollers from a welding feeder as I had one and replacements are very cheap. Add: Good, you switched to pellets. Was going to suggest that, too.
Also, a similar method works on an industrial scale. I used to work in a plant that made cellulose acetate fibers, and the spinning method was to dissolve the CA in acetone, force the solution through very small orifices, and they'd form into fibers as the solvent evaporated. Those fibers were drawn onto rollers (through a whole series of finishing steps) to both collect the fibers and keep them moving. We blew a stream of warm nitrogen over the fibers to evaporate the solvent, in order to reduce fire risk, but warm air works well enough for small scale testing.
@@lektromag That's actually pretty cool. I hadn't considered trying that with extrusion for fibers, but I sure can adapt an injection machine I've been building (was planning to use it for mold testing) and try the roller method. Hmm!
Genuinely so excited to see how this project has progressed. It is fascinating that you accidentally discovered a way to retain warmth while actively trying to do the opposite. The potential to eliminate overheating in an accessible form for the average individual might be the most important thing to have happened in my lifetime. Keep up the great work and honestly you should be nominated for a Nobel Prize. Genuinely thank you for this contribution.
This is pretty fascinating. I bought a FLIR cam as a 'nerd toy' but it has been quite useful. Found a 'water leak' that technically never made a drip or puddle in my sink drains because the evaporative cooling. It can help spot high resistance. See drafty spots in the house... Heck you can even see the studs in the wall a bit. Anyways if you're a nerd it's worth it for a lower end one. Just visually seeing how heat interacts with the world is wild. Anyways for reflectiveness, what about mylar? One of those space blanket deals. Even better that stupidly reflective material I think 3M makes?
@@joybreegaming8781 I've gone through a number of thermal devices over the years, and weirdly the FLIR branded ones were my least favorite. Check out Infiray or seek thermal to find one that fits your needs. If you ever get the chance to check out a higher-end device like an RH-25... better be sitting down, and hold on to your wallet. You can see the studs in the walls, sure, but you can also see where the drywall screws are when the conditions are right. And if you go outside, find / identify all the wildlife in your yard. Thermal in general is definitely a new way of seeing the world.
It can be frustrating during the design process, especially when things don't work even when following the same set of steps. But when you get that break through it gets to be fun again! Also, I never saw the pivot coming with the polar bear effect type of winter clothing. When trying to stay cool the same material can help you stay warm. Awesome video!
Polar bear hairs are hollow. They work like fiberoptic cables, directing sunlight directly down to the bear's black skin where it is absorbed. The hollow hairs also hold air which is not easily exchanged with the atmosphere, increasing their insolation value dramatically. This combination of factors means that a polar bear can overheat in the sunlight even when ambient temperatures are well below zero.
@@WarttHog That is a good question. I haven't even thought about it, but I'd say it depends on the wavelength of light. I heard someone say that the holes in the safety screen of your microwave oven could be a lot bigger and still work. As long as they have a diameter of less than half a wavelength, they will reflect the microwaves. I think it might have been Nile Red making plasma in the microwave. Maybe it works for bears as well, and the IR just doesn't fit through the hole.
Great video! I'll leave my thoughts and critiques. My understanding is you're trying to exploit both reflective and emissive cooling. Emissive cooling only removes heat from the material that is doing the emission. To remove heat from a secondary object, first the heat needs to transfer from that object into your emissive material. Two properties that make fabric good for clothing are that it is flexible, and it's a relatively good insulator (low thermal conductivity). Unfortunately, I think that second property works hard against your goal of emissive cooling, since the heat transfer from the hat to the fabric will be quite slow. Perhaps there are ways of increasing the thermal conductivity of the fabric while keeping it's flexibility. Maybe embedding some kind of conductive fibre e.g. metal wire/mesh, or some kind of glue to bond it to the material.
Beautiful work! But keep in mind that the temperature values obtained with the thermal imaging camera depend on the emmissivity of the materials, which for pla and aluminum are very different from each other. Also outdoors the measurement on the aluminum could be very offset by the reflection of the sun on the aluminum. Maybe when you take the measurements place the hat in the shade. Anyway great result!!!
You know what would be awesome for radiant cooling? Distilling water. Get a container of water. Paint it with the most heat-absorbing black, thus maximizing the temperature of the water inside. Additional mirrors can be used to increase the sunlight hitting this container to increase its temperature even more (see below). The container is connected to another container via a tube filled with air that is painted with this radiant cooling material. The goal is to passively keep this container as cool as possible. Water in the hot container will evaporate because it's so hot, and the goal is to have that moisture travel to the cool container and condensate. Thus, you will have distilled water for free. The effectiveness could be maximized by reflecting all the sunlight that would hit the cool container to the hot container to increase its temperature. Putting the cool container in the shade should help it so long as it is still able to radiate as much heat as possible to the zenith.
proof of concept: dig a hole, bury container with hose coming up to the surface. connect to black camping shower bag (they're designed to be warmed by sunlight, and pretty cheap and easy to get), let sit in the sun. for a more usable setup, it'd probably be best to put the in-ground container somewhere like a cave, but still partially buried into the earth. would likely be effective in a place like arizona where the ground is very clay heavy, which makes for really good thermal conduction (as far as dirt is concerned)
i LOVE how far your channel has come!! i also really appreciate you sharing what you learn, as it seems you genuinely just want the world to be a better place. I for one, believe it IS a better place, with you in it. THANK YOU for the work you do
If the fabric is eventually perfected and it manages to radiate the heat and disperse it (making the hat keep cold inside as well) this would be so helpful to so many people. I work during summers in farms, and the temperatures can easily go over 43°C (which if im not wrong is around 107 or so farenheit), if a fabric out there managed to actually keep cold during the intense heat, it would immensely improve the quality of life of so many people working in the sun this is honestly such a fascinating and amazing concept, which I think could become something really really good to a lot of people, and the fact that you have this research so open to the public is amazing!!! Mad props!!
I think it is less about the polar bear effect and more about opacity in general. If the light penetrates deeper into the material there is a bigger chance of it being absorbed rather than reflected. What I don''t really understand is how the foil backing can perform better than just a second sheet of the fabric, assuming that the fabric reflects more light than the foil.
Maybe it's not the reflective property of aluminum, but the fact that aluminum is a great heat conductor. It could be that a sheet of aluminum helps to dissipate the heat more effectively.
@@sasjadevries I dont think that can be the case. As was said in the video the fabric should be absorbing less light (is white) while having the right emission spectrum to radiate heat as well while aluminium foil absorbs 15% of light (is gray, but same goes for invisible ir)
@@crocobroco4654 I think the fact that the foil is physically bonded to the fabric made more of a difference than the fact that it was foil. he used foil to ensure that none of the light would make it through for testing purposes but in a better use case I think that bonding to another layer of fabric (ie. the outer layer being thicker) would probably outperform the foil. the problem seemed to be more to do with the fact that they were separate layers which created a thermal insulation barrier allowing the underlayer to retain it's heat (which also could reflect back due to the outer layer), whereas if it were one layer or multiple thermally coupled layers that effect may not dominate the result quite as much. It would be interesting to see the effect on an arbitrarily thick sample to see what effect the light penetration depth had on the absorbtion of heat and whether a thicker or a denser fabric is more optimal
@@crocobroco4654except AGAIN it is radiating that heat towards everywhere, ie; the hat. The foil makes it so it radiates heat in every direction EXCEPT the hat.
@12:40 There's actually no need to have a sealed rotating joint, you could literally use a tube half the diameter even if they don't touch as long as the end of the tube is inside the bottle, the liquid will drip down, and touch the edge where it will form a hollow cylinder
The spider web from hot glue i saw was attatching an air sompressor with a long thin nozzle to a glue gun. Couldnt you do the same with a 3D printer pen and an air compressor nozxle? Your videos are top notch. You are one of very few that are 100% real, with results that can be replucated. Thank you for your integrity, curiosity and providing interesting and useful topics.
I see this Material used on "Greenhouse Covers", as they will remain cool as heat in a greenhouse rises. But don't know how durable in direct sunlight. Willing to Test! Also with the polar bear effect to keep plants warm as a termal blanket but allowing sunlight in.
I have been watching you since around your soup can forge and I am so happy to see that your ambitions have grown and your curiosity hasn't shrunk. Thank you for your videos! Great Work!
Try blasting your fabric solutions out of paintgun that's connected to air compressor I tried doing DIY paint out of styrofoam dissolved in toluene and blasting it with paintgun produced spiderweb like fabric
I could not suggest a way to improve the overall fabric. However, improving the hat seems much easier. form a mold of the hat, spray a suitable release, and form from the machine you made. this should resolve most issues with the hat and potentially other products (such as shoes), were a stiffer option is preferable. I would like to see the effectiveness of samples tested to a more repeatable and comparable, maybe through a finely controllable heating element in a more controlled space. this might also allow the small details that might otherwise be lost to be noticed.
This channel is a wonder. Every time, without fail, I am uninterested in watching the video. As soon as I start, I am engrossed and cant pull away, I think of the concepts and content for months afterwards and kick myself for not watching more. Yet, as soon as a new video is published, the cycle repeats. I love your content, keep it up!
Easily becoming one of my favourite series to follow along, absolutely fascinating and explained in a way that even my old brain can begin to get to grips with. Good luck with this and look forward to more. Pure genius.
@@michaelcatalanottohandyman well they legally have to state how they use your data in their privacy policy and provide the option to remove your data, so... That said, reading DeleteMe and Incogni's policies DeleteMe is A LOT more porous. I use Incogni, I wouldn't use DeleteMe
That said, DeleteMe does include a statement in the California specific section that says "Do Not Sell My Information . We take your privacy seriously. We do not sell our members information. We are not a data broker." So :shrug:
Different PLA resins are worth exploring. For 3D printing 3D870 is the best from my experience. This is typically marketed as HTPLA or similar. It is significantly less brittle than other resins. It's also prints at higher temperatures, and is less likely to deform if it's sitting in the sun (although it's still not nearly as temperature resistant as other common 3D printing filaments like PETG or ABS). As a rule of thumb, the higher the preferred temperature of a particular PLA resin, the higher the quality. A brand that prints well at 220 C is going to be better than one that prints at 200. Those will start becoming overly brittle after a year on the shelf, or even a few months. Any pigments are also important. Many people have experienced that yellow PLA gets really brittle when it gets old. White can also do this, although not nearly as bad. Fillers like glitter or glow-in-the-dark can also have this effect, although it obviously varies.
I'm kind of in awe of your R&D skills... seeing you peel that big sheet off the spinning screen, with your fabricobbled machine in your back yard.. it's so awesome. No one thinks this is slow progress
You may be able to improve reflectivity and whiteness without affecting the process by adding titanium dioxide nanoparticles. I've found that a little of that powder goes a very long way!
Psst. That bowden tube you're using isn't made of teflon. :) I speak from experience finding that out the long and hard way with similar tube. I can tell from it's colour/translucency as well as the other thing you mentioned: Teflon doesn't shrink with heat.
You're doing pretty awesome work my friend, well done to you sir. Seeing how and why something works is by far better than the "just take my word for it" approach.
Exactly! I came here to say the same! Not only is its sole purpose to reflect IR, it's lighter and more durable than aluminum foil. I think it'd be the perfect underlayment for this stuff.
Take a non-contact IR thermometer and point it at the sun on a clear day. Depending on how accurately you aim, you'll see a temperature in the hundreds of degrees, maybe even off the end of the scale. Now point it just a few degrees away from the sun - it doesn't have to be very far. You'll see a temperature much, much lower than ambient, possibly even below freezing. During the day! Now imagine: a coating that, in addition to being so reflective that it reflects virtually all the energy the sun projects onto it, also radiates its own heat to that huge, low temperature heat sink in the rest of the sky. The same way you can have a coating that absorbs heat super-well and DOESN'T re-radiate it, here's a coating that doesn't absorb hardly any, and radiates really really well. So instead of getting crazy hot, it slowly cools off even under direct sun - direct sun that, due to the reflectivity, doesn't have much effect.
My admittedly scientifically illiterate gist is that the material is acting as an intermediate between a heat source and the cold of space. It can get colder than the surrounding environment simply because it's better at moving that heat into a really cold place. Effectively, it's like if you stuck a copper rod into the ground. The rod would get colder than the surrounding air, but it's because it was better at moving that energy into the cooler ground. Except in this case the heat transfer is radiation instead of conduction, and the ground is outer space.
The materal is changing the frame of reference for thermal transfer. In one part by being highly reflective to IR radiation, and in the other by being prone to radating heat in an bandwith that our clouds and atmosphere does not like to absorb Thus changing the frame of reference from the planet, to the solar system.
18:44 @NightHawkInLight for fiber collection could you use a horizontal or vertical drum of screen to collect the fibers? Then you could cut the fiber sheet lengthwise off the drum and you should get a rectangular sheet of the fiber.
If this channel invents a dielectric mirror fabric just to solve their self-invented radiative cooling fabric problem there should be large prizes awarded
first youtuber to win a nobel prize! this is world changing technology, great job brother. what if a backyard experiment turns into a multi billion dollar chemical company. hopefully you're already in contact with a patent attorney. even if you diddnt want to do the leg work of manufacturing, your entire future lineage will live like kings from the licensing agreements.
a small diaphragm pump would be a really cheap replacement for the syringe in larger scale runs. To make longer runs, make a belt out of window screen over 2 rollers with a drive motor turning one and place several machines in series to build up thicker, non-aligned layers of spun fibers. Peel the beginning edge onto a rotating cardboard tube like paper towels are rolled.
This is a great question... I guess it would. AFAIK CO2 buildup helps trap heat, and earth's surface doesn't radiate enough of it in the wavelength window that allows it to exit the earth. So if we covered, say, large tracts of a desert with Ben's material, then that should actually help...
I think using an IR thermometer that bases its measurement on emitted IR light for measuring the temperature of an emissive material is flawed methomogy. Maybe try adding some contact thermometers into the samples?
This. I think the IR thermometer makes for cool videos but it is extremely flawed when you're looking at ~2-5C difference in temperatures. Thermocouples are also hard because of the necessity to correctly control convection and conduction heat transfer. All in all, it's as he says: "a guy in a garage"... You can't really do much better without proper instrumentation, education and funding.
Well, I'm barely resisting the temptation to go cobble together fans & order the chemicals because I find this exciting! On a side note, if I were to try this I'd also attempt a batch with polyethylene. Whenever I cut wholes in a polyethylene tank the resulting plastic dust feels so cold to the touch I thought it burned me once on a hot day because of the perceived temperature difference. I haven't researched it further since I'm sucked into too many other projects but hopefully this anecdotally gets some gears turning. I can't wait to see how you get the spherical barium sulfate (if I remember that correctly) into this method
I'm so curious as to how many fiber artists you have in your community. I could see this evolve into spraying the fibers directly onto nylon fabric that has been dipped or coated in your paint, or dipping thread or yarn, like acrylic or nylon, into your paint and then spraying the fibers onto it. That would seem to solve a lot of issues, potentially, and also give you more stable fabric bases to manipulate into wearable pieces. I was comparing this to the reflective material that cyclists wear for safety, and there's someone who makes thread and yarn and fabric from it to make custom clothes that are reflective. Keep up the amazing work! I know my mind is reeling with possibilities, and I can't wait to see where you take it!
The owner of a company I worked for answered my question about patenting. "It's a huge waste of time and money." Thru my own investigations I understood what he meant. It's like like paying a lot of money to restrict your own freedoms, while letting Hillary and the CPC have your ideas totally free.
I mean when something looks cold on a thermal camera, it doesn't mean it's necessarily cold. It just doesn't radiate much infrared radiation. So shouldn't a real cooling fabric look hot on a thermal camera? because it radiates the energy away? Maybe I'm missing something, but since your first video about the topic, I have the impression you have a misconception about the testing method with the thermal camera. what you actually need are real probes, which you stuff under the fabric.
Lower infrared radiation does mean lower surface temperature. But yes, actual thermometers under the fabric would give a better idea of how well the fabric might perform as clothing...
@@nosy-cat The first answer is interesting. "The opposite is also true: 2 identical hot objects, one black and one white, radiate heat differently, the black one will get rid of more heat than the white one."
With the double layer on the hat, the upper layer was cooling through radiation to space, but the lower layer is not able to since it’s view of space is blocked, but it IS warming through conduction being in contact with the warm hat and warm air.
I cant believe how fast you've developed an actual fabric 😮 When I first saw your videos I figured you would do this eventually but didnt think we'd see something this quickly!
The really promising thing about this new technique is that creating fabric with different properties on different sides e.g. black/ reflective should be trivial simply by injecting different mixtures at different points in the process. Really excited to see what you come up with!
Great improvements to the process! I was expecting you to bring the machine into a temperature-controlled space rather than adding a hot air input. The DIY swivel connector would make a good UA-cam Short. One of the best transitions to a sponsorship I've seen lately.
Been interested in nanoporous polyethylene fabrics (and other passive cooling) for some time and this man is doing the research of entire dedicated labs himself.
There has to be a large handful of people who have said this already, but what if you spray it directly onto a mylar blanket? The blanket then could serve two purposes more efficiently. One side would be for cooling and work more efficiently than ever, and if the other side was dark, it could warm up well. Love the work you're putting into this!
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Thanks everyone for stopping by! I'm looking forward to reading your ideas for applications or improvements for this fabric. You can check out the earlier Patreon livestreams where we built the fiber blowing machine here: www.youtube.com/@NHiLExtra/streams
If you'd like to go above and beyond in supporting these projects you can do so through Patreon: www.patreon.com/NightHawkProjects
Thank you everyone for watching!
You might want to try desolving Styrofoam in a solvent and putting that through your machine!
I wonder if that fabric would make good I.R. Clothing for the Military at night? Also, I wonder if finding a way to make Multiple Layers 'sealed together' Maybe with some of your 'Paint'. I think the porous fabric and the spaces you get from multiple layers are allowing light and heat to be trapped in the fabric allowing heat to have time to be absorbed.
Waiting for the Nasa contract
Why not just make the fabric thicker? Like half a dozen runs of fabric making without ever peeling it, so it's all one sheet. That would make it more opaque, increase the thermal conductivity between the layers since they're fused together, and fill in the gossamer holes with more white fabric, to make it more reflective.
Instead of PLA Filament buy Pellets so much cheaper
Slow progress? Definitely not! You had a handful of crushed fibres last time and now you have a full sheet that has a structure!
in a cave! With a box of scraps!!!
Bot!
@@timkelley6616 No, a movie reference.
@@JanDahl I got it. Props for being the first.😉
@@JanDahl but we are not Tony Stark
Dude is out here on the bleeding edge of practical DIY metamaterials and he's "just a guy in his barn making slow progress" 😂
I have said so many times that true progress comes from passionate people in their garages.
They always shout me down and tell me to trust the science.
@@peacefulscrimp5183 This DIY sky cooling series of videos wouldn't have been possible without the initial research papers that inspired it in the first place. I think you are conflating engineering with science. Also, the only difference between a lab and a garage is the car.
It’s a great example for kids to see how much effort goes into innovating. For me too, though.
@@peacefulscrimp5183 This IS (amateur) Science, a more rigorous protocol and better equipment would provide faster, better, more accurate results worthy of publication but this is in essence experimental science and many of the multi-billion dollar research disciplines of today started with guys in their barns tinkering with stuff or out and about collecting/observing stuff.
@@thastayapongsak4422 did you read what I wrote?
NightHawkInLight's slow transformation into Mr Freeze continues.
(Schwarzenegger voice) "Cool!"
This experiment has surely broken the ice.
I was thinking Ted Cruz's non-identical non-evil twin
Dang it, you beat me to it!
He's the Bizarro Universe version of Mr. Freeze
In 2005-2006 I worked for a factory that made the fibers you are looking for. The fibers we made were much much smaller than what you made though. Nano scale in fact. We needed to send a sample in to a lab, with an electron microscope, to check the quality. I can tell you the basic set up, which looked very much like a steampunk assembly line, but it worked very well. Very much like spinning invisible spider webs onto a paper substrate, at 12 feet per second. To much to go into in a UA-cam comment, but I will email to you if you like.
However, I can tell you a bit about what can happen, when people over look safety... Hint: It wasn't me that overlooked the safety, but the head engineer of the machine. Oh, and the total number of people that worked in the factory was 4. And that includes the president of said company.
So a quick story of my shocking safety experience.
The final area of this machine, the production area, is a conveyor belt, about 10 feet long. Inside the conveyor belt, between the top and bottom, is a large vacuum. Basically a large blower, blowing outside the factory, with the intake inside the conveyor. A paper substrate, about 4 feet wide, on a roll of paper about 1,000 feet long (possible longer. this roll of substrate is about 4 feet in diameter. you do the math) its very long.
So the material that get melted down, the plastic, is cooked as it goes on its way from hopper to spray head. The spray head is a brass beam, with a few dozen outlets for the fiber, and compressed air inside the beam, spraying the plastic spider web.
One of the things we did was watch the fabric spray, and get any lumps that form, off the finished material. Lumps from, insects, or webs that float around and get caught on the spray heads, and then fall off onto the substrate with the finished web product. Not a good thing, so we actively try to catch every one of them, as it was feeding in at 12 feet per second.
I was at the end. To keep the paper straight, as it feeds onto the conveyor, there are a series of rollers for the paper to go around before it get onto the wind up roll. These rollers are
pvc, with a metal pipe in the center. About 5 or 6 inches in diameter. About 6 of them.
Its running at full speed, and I see a very large fluff ball, land on the other end of the machine (lots of air flowing). two of the other three people watching for these, tried and failed to grab it. I missed it too. But it cam off, and got stuck on on of the rollers, easily in reach. But no way am I getting my body inside that machine. But I did have a three foot long, 2" wrench. A perfect claw for snagging this huge booger.
I got to scrape it off the roller. I get the wrench no closer to it than three feet, and over the factory noise, I hear a massive crack. My arm goes numb. And I get knocked on my ass. I thought that sound was the sound of dismemberment. My are was surely ripped off because I got too close, I though. I looked down, my arm was there, but it wouldn't move. I touched it with my other hand. Yep, its still there, but numb. And then I noticed I was sitting about 10 feet away from the machine, on the floor. With everyone looking at me. I just blinked. And doing so I could see the after image of looked like a lightning bolt. Before they could ask me anything, I said, "please tell me you all saw that". Two of them said yes. That was the biggest arc they have ever seen. At least three feet long, and bright as hell.
Later I did the math. Electricity arcs at about 1" per 25,000 volts. So I figure that was nearly 1 million volts.
Later, I had a word with the engineer. There must be something we could do to prevent that. Maybe putting a ground line on the back side of the rollers? maybe installing a static dissipaters' like we had on our jet fighter wings trailing edge? (retired USAF). So he let me play with the machine when it was offline while testing product. I am happy to say, using Christmas garland, stretched across the back of each roller, fixed that problem. 😶🌫
"It's the middle of summer, why is there christmas decoration on the machine?"
"Safety."
Jeesus man. the static buildup from having that piece of metal be charged by the plastic fabric tumbling around for a day or more would for sure have been able to generate a huge arc, even with the total load being small from the limited capacity in a metal cylinder that must have been a .....Shock. I'm just confused as to why they didn't spot this issue in design phase but maybe it's because of the times. These days you'd never get away with dangerous equipment like that, especially when it has a simple solution.
@@Louquethat Oh, they knew about it. They had tried to control it. But didnt put much thought into it.
Figuring shit out like that is my superpower.
They also had a power distribution box, that had a couple of dozen circuit breakers in it, many of which were 200 amps or more. With one of the 200 amp breakers, being held in the on position, by a broom handle wedged against it, because it kept popping. I asked the engineer about it, he said “it needs to be there. We cant afford to replace it with what we really need their… yet”
@@Technichian462😮😂
You need to submit that story to "Well There's Your Problem". They cover stuff like that all the time in their end-of-show segment "Safety Third", where they showcase listener OSHA nightmares.
I mentioned in the comments of the last video that I was concerned about using PLA for clothing because I don't think it can stand up to washing. I only realized after commenting that that would make hats or vests a good test bed, and was happy to see you go for a hat here. In terms of transferring heat to the emissive PLA, i think its important to remember that the body already has a way to do sub-ambient cooling with evaporative cooling ie sweat. Modern moisture wicking fabrics are really great and I first noticed how beneficial they can be when I took up biking. I have a long sleeve white shirt that keeps me significantly cooler than I would have expected because it wicks the sweat over a large surface area and biking adds airflow to help evaporation. So, it would be cool to see tests with your fabric in an against skin setting where sweat can help facilitate heat transfer. I think existing moisture wicking fabrics could give you a good benchmark of performance for your material. Anyway, great work!
Yeah, it would be nice if such fabrics worked for everyone, I'm always amazed to hear that they work for people since my skin is made sweaty by anything synthetic 😞 Glad they really do work for at least some people!
Same here, sweating on synthetics, but I find bamboo clothing really great for wicking moisture and it's super soft 😊@@minagica
@@BoyKhongklai Thanks so much! I'll try to find some for working out!
I'd like to see fibers created directly on the hat. I'm hoping that they will adhere reasonably well to the frame. We can create one thick layer, which should minimize the polar bear effect.
was just thinking the same thing!
But at that point, shouldn't you just use the paint instead?
I wonder if it would peel off the hat intact, then it would be a hat made entirely out of the material 🤔
Or mylar film, reflective side up.
You could even use the hat as a form or a "negative" to make a new hat on top of it entirely out of these cooling fibers
I did something simple to drastically reduce my homes heat absorption. My AC would run most of the daylight hours for half the year and the attic temps commonly were 165 to 170 degrees F. I looked at taking the dark green metal roof off and puting in an air gap and insulation panels but it was too expensive. I looked at powered attic fans but that required extensive modifying the gable vents.
Then I ran across some of your videos and decided to check out painting the roof white.
I have done so and now my attic temp, even at 4 or 5 in the afternoon when the outside temperatures are in the 95 to 98 degrees, is around 103 to 110 AND now my AC runs maybe 25% of the time instead of continuously. My bill was significantly lower these last two months.
I didn't buy any $300 a gallon NASA spec paint, I bought a cheaper metal roof paint (from the big box store whose color is orange) called Metal-X and used a roller to apply it in one morning.
Now the house is comfortable in the afternoon when before the inside temp would go up even with the AC running all the time.
Amazing results and this channel gave me the clues.
Hopefully you live in a continually hot climate, because in the winter time you'll notice a difference too, but not a good one in lower temps. I live in a fairly temperate climate, but even here, I use more electricity during winter than in the summer (and that is with an electric heat pump system though granted an older one).
@@justinw1765 well, I live in NE Texas and being as I've worked Alaska, I think winters are mild in TX, haha. I'm sweating at anything over 75F so in winter I keep the house at 60. A couple of 1500watt plug in heaters do a whole 3 bedroom house so I'm not worried about not getting heat gain during winter days. Texas winter is only Nov thru Feb anyway and daytime temps are 45 to 65, I don't even wear a coat or jacket usually
@@bobjoatmon1993 Yeah, those are pretty mild temps, so it shouldn't make much of a difference.
Even then, some kind of removable fabric or the like would be more ideal. Something that I've thought about for my own house is taking cardboard and pasting some kind of IR reflective material onto just one side with modified waterglass (and putting like short stilts on the corners), and then putting this in the attic. During the summer, have the shiny/reflective side facing up. During the winter, just flip it over and have the shiny side facing down.
This allows IR (from the house) to pass through more in the summer while reflecting IR coming in from Solar heat gain, and conversely allowing some solar heat gain to come in during winter while reflecting the IR from the inside heating back down.
The thermal images would be much more useful if they had a temperature scale - lots of mentions of "much cooler" with no actual figures.
Exactly
I think just a few days ago I realized how to get the data overlays to show up in the thermal camera footage but I haven't tested it yet. I'll try to make that happen for next time.
@@Nighthawkinlight Thanks for taking feedback and thanks for the super cool (hehe) videos!! Im currently sitting in a house with no central cooling and this would be so helpful!
i disagree. the numbers themselves don't matter since they aren't uniform across all areas. cooler is relative to the ambient temp. maybe the delta under and below ambient matters for calculations, but for a proof of concept the color is enough.
They are good reference points, as the display changes the scale of what it sees.
This guy is top notch. the best science UA-camr hands down no bs no trend chasing no over hyping or dumbing stuff down, always sticking to the concepts and the science, not fan boying over anyone or anything
How about putting your cloth behind a bifacial solar panel. It would reflect sunlight back to the back side of the solar panel and perhaps cool the panel which usually makes them more efficient.
*@NightHawkInLight*
11:50 If you aim the blowing output down, instead of sideways, the feed mechanism for the liquid can literally be a bucket connected to the tube.
Either directly attached & rotating with the shaft, or as a funnel that goes into the tube a bit, if you make the container be air-tight except for a medium hole at the bottom, it will only flow out when air can get in to replace the same volume, that should limit the flow into the tube so it doesn't overflow. (The Teflon tube is also an elegant solution)
Yes, it would also make a more uniform pattern since gravity doesn't affect the ovality of the circle.
The feed pipe can go through the shaft right down to the "nozzle" and be gravity fed. The high viscosity should make a seal so it doesn't overflow at the shaft.
Maybe even the blower fan can be omitted and so reducing the impact of air turbulence on the strand.
@emanresutY omission of the blower fan would completely change how this even functions. The blower air doesn't just create turbulence on the strands coming out of the nozzle.... which is very small to begin with as you can see from the slow motion video, it's also responsible for removing just enough of the solvent from the mixture as it comes out of the nozzle before it hits the screen. If you remove the blower fan then you will have wet material hitting the screen in the setup as he has a designed. I'm sure you could work with distances and find a proper amount of height to go from the surface you are depositing on in your rig but I think you'd find that you need to be a dozen feet or higher and then you got a whole lot of other problems occurring in that setup
@@nickbrockelman The main reason for the blower is to propel the strand towards the screen. The amount of solvent and viscosity can surely be tweaked.
But I wrote maybe.
@emanresutY I'm fully aware of what the job of the blower is. I'm not the one who suggested omitting it in the first place. I was replying to a comment above where they were saying that not using a fan and adjusting the machine to where it applies the strands downward, would allow gravity to carry the mixture through the machine. I'm saying that by orienting the machine to where the strands fall downward and omitting the blower fan will create a situation where the strands don't get dry enough before they reached the screen were there being deposited. The adjustment to be made here is as easy as putting the machine further away from deposit screen. Of course, many fine adjustments could be made in other places. like you say, less solvent or more material or whatever The Tweak May be. But the fact that the blower motor doesn't just blow the strands towards the deposit service but also evaporates just enough of the solvent to do so in a distance shorter than you would need if falling from the machine to the deposit surface with no air around it at all. Also having the air blow across the strands as they're being deposited gives you a measure of control over that variable if you do it from a gravity feed situation and no air is Flowing around the strands then the strange deposit could be influenced by something as simple as humidity. By applying a blower you get control over that variable easily.
@@sebbes333 you wouldn't want to do this because leaving gravity in charge of the flow rate into the machine is a bad idea. You may have differences in viscosity from your strand material from one batch to another that very just enough for this sensitive process to be affected. If you put it under pressure you can adjust how fast it applies material into the machine regardless of its viscosity.
Opacity seems largely solvable with a longer fiber generation time, though it does become a question of how durable and pliable the result is. Maybe there's a way of bonding the layers together (a light solvent spray?). Another question I have regarding the insulative properties, is it that the PLA is reflecting it's own emission so it has trouble escaping? If so maybe layering fabrics with different emissive ranges could help.
This seems like the kind of thing you'd see in postdoc research at a university. Have you explored any options of working with one, or even finding a research grant for yourself? There's got to be some climate related grants this would be applicable to
Grants are often more hassle than they're worth to procure - when I researched such things there were many hoops to jump through. That was quite awhile ago though ...
I was thinking about using a felting needle to physically bond the fabric layers.
@@CalifornieWayif the fabric filaments act more like paper than textile, which seems to be the case at first glance, that might not work unfortunately
I had the same thoughts though I said them less eloquently than you did
Honestly, this is like a levelled up Mythbusters to me. It really shows how messy the replication, experimentation and development process can be.
PLA also causes less permanent microplastics, the more surface area it has the faster it degrades, and UV does a lot of the work there since it is not UV resistant... which might also be a problem in sunshine. It hydrolyzes... It is made from glucose, converted to lactic acid and then the crucial step, removing one H2O molecule to form monomers, apply heat and the monomers form polymers. So it wants that H2O or HO molecule back and if there is moisture and UV it hydrolyzes. And of course, heat makes everything happen faster.
It is amazing material but it has its weaknesses, hydrolyzing is one of the biggest ones, the second is the glass transition temperature of amorphous PLA, which is only 60C, so anything made from PLA needs to be tested if it is semi-crystalline or amorphous. Maybe the semicrystallne state can withstand UV better, it is the more stable. If it softens greatly at 80C, it is amorphous, if it can withstand up to 150C then it is fully semicrystalline. Time is a factor when you cool it after melting but since this is solvent based... Have no clue, gut feeling says it is amorphous as the solvent evaporates so quickly. But..
PLA can be heat threated. Raise it up to 80C and then cool it down very slowly, over matter of hours from 80C to 40C. This can be repeated with every higher temps up to 140C. Heating and very slowly cooling allows the polymers to pack more efficiently, which increases its temperature resistance but i have no idea about UV resitance.
Fantastic comment. Does it pack more efficiently because it naturally wants to but can only do so if the temperature doesn't drop too fast, freezing it in a less desirable state? If it's an inherent property of PLA that it wants to arrange itself neatly, it seems to me we can probably take advantage of that somehow in other ways. It's crazy to think that the byproduct of making Greek yogurt is lactic acid. What it would it take to use that to make PLA? If you are making it from the raw lactic acid yourself, can you take advantage of that to more efficiently achieve denser packing by doing various tricks in your conversion process? If one combined both the solvent and some heat--but at lower temperatures--I wonder what the ideal combination would be.
I have never seen a PLA sample withstand 150C. Do you know of a commercial product that claims that?
@@think2086 this technique is not dependent on the type of material. It is a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics. It is called "annealing", very common for improving the material properties of metallic alloys. There are even computer algorithms which mimic this "shake a little bit then let it settle" behaviour in order to find minima and maxima of functions. The most obvious one is "simulated annealing", but evolutionary algorithms also do this, since random walks are essentially "shake it up a bit". Biological evolution is also based on this principle, the genetic mutations are the "shake it up a bit".
@@think2086 imagine that you have 100 marbles. You throw them up in the air. What are the odds that they fall in the ground forming a perfect 10 by 10 square grid? Very low, but not zero, right? Now imagine that you are doing this not in a room but inside a truck container that is being hauled at a terrible road and shaking all around. Now, even if you by chance get the perfect grid, the movement of the container is going to destroy the grid. Heating up is analogous to throwing the marbles up in the air and cooling down slowly is analogous to reducing the speed of the truck, so that you lock in a very unlikely structure when you eventually get it by chance. And that is the relationship to the second law of thermodynamics: the more unlikely the structure of the system, the lowest its entropy, by definition. Things like a broken glass reforming itself are possible, but so unlikely that we never see it happen in practice, hence the second law (entropy always increases with time in the universe as a whole even if it decreases locally).
@@8irnbvla59 150C afaik is the theoretical limit, then it starts to melt. I don't think it can be done in the real world.
Brilliant! doesn't even add to the microplastic environmental problem since it's biodegradable. Solar heated winter coats? Can't wait to see that!
I didn't know that PLA was biodegradable, thanks. My first thought was indeed "oh no don't do it outside" ;) Is the polyethylene oxide also biodegradable or would it still break down to microplastics?
I don't enjoy being that guy but I must say. Using this fabric for winter based ghillie suits would give many desirable effects, in theory. Polar bear effect for wearer, likely a severe reduction in thermal visibility for someone trying to spot the ghilie wearer. I'd like to see this made into a ghillie webbing for a hat, and tested in snow conditions.
PLA is biodegradable under very specific conditions that do not occur in nature on reasonable timescales! I love this series but I think veering away from PLA if not plastics in general would be highly preferable.
@@lemandros"nitrocelulose exploding sky cooling fabric"
PLA needs to be at a minimum of about 70°C to begin to break down back into lactic acid. Before this occurs the most "biodegrading" PLA does is breaking down into tiny pieces, microplastics. So unless where he lives is very hot, it's not breaking down any time soon. That being said, I don't think we should be worrying so much about one guy experimenting in his backyard
I'm a longtime Patreon supporter, because to me your videos stay true to the oldschool UA-cam spirit in the best possible way: Interesting, original and educational content with scientific value, simple and effective presentation, no music, no unnecessary drama, no clickbait, straight to the point. And a cute parrot. Perfection! 👏 Keep it up!
Thank you!
Currently Studying composites and polymer this semester , this video is like the best representation of many of the processes taught. I learned a lot seeing it practically done with hardware store items....keep doing the great work...
🎉🎉🎉
What's it like ACTUALLY be a mad scientist? For real though, your ability to conceive of ideas and take meaningful, deliberate action to actually manifest your conceptions into reality is nothing short of inspirational and truly remarkable.
The word genius is overused these days but 'designing and creating a new radiative cooling polymer, as well as an industrial process and machine to form that polymer into a usable fabric IN A BARN' is absolutely December 25, 1642 level genius.
Love your ideas and all the effort you put in to develop them. Of course, we all know of whole industries that began in home/garage workshops creating (in some cases) vast wealth for the inventors. The electric light bulb, the paperclip, desktop computers. I really hope you continue to refine the cloth. Thanks for all your hard work.
He's not mad, though 😂
@@jeffreysharp8526wrong place. You replied to a comment on the video, not to the video
He has a poor understanding of the science involved and is ultimately wasting his time. I appreciate people who experiment and it’s a fun video. But this technology is a dead end. Thermodynamically it won’t work.
@@Wood.Architect theory has to fit reality, not the other way around, it's how old theories get abandoned and new, better ones corroborated. So far his experiments show that he's achieved something. Maybe it's a challenge for thermodynamics, maybe it's not what the thinks it is after all, it's yet to be seen
(1) So how about dielectric mirrors as a backing? They reflect like 99% of light (depending on the manufacturer). Dielectric mirrors are basically a laminate of thin layers of plastics with different refractive indices, constructively interfering to reflect light.
(2) For the solar heating, you could try putting this white fabric over an IR flock sheet. (the ultra-dark fabric, that "action lab" showed on his channel) It would be interesting to see, if it would increase or decrease how much heat this ultra-black fabric absorbs under sunlight. One note: there seem to be two kinds of flock sheets: ones that absorb mostly visible, and others that absorb IR.
I see someone else commented this. Had the same thoughts!
i think he is underestimating the value of a broadly emissive layer in the sandwich. I would bet that a black sheet thermally bonded to the white though a foil middle layer would improve the heat extraction of the composite material. ultimately we don't want a cold material we want to cool what the material is shading.
@@allisterhale8229 Well, we are talking about multiple usecases here: Clothes that make absorb less heat is one, clothes that insulate heat are also useful, clothes that heat up more in winter can also be useful.
But yeah, if you have one layer that absorbs most of your body heat, conducts it into an emissive layer, and let the emissive layer radiate it out, then that would be cool.
I know nothing of Dielectric mirrors - something tells me mylar is cheaper; what about mylar?
@@williamblair1123 mylar is a brand owned by dupont. It's just PET plastic, that has been stretched in all directions. And there is a version a mylar that has a thin layer of aluminium foil.
So the reflectivity of mylar is the same as aluminium foil, because it is aluminium foil, just thinner and sandwiched between two sheets of plastic.
Very good job with both the results and the length and pacing of the video.
I think you did a great job striking the balance between showing your process, presenting results, and not making the video overly long, as you asked about in your previous video. Well done.
I found you years ago when I wanted to make my friend a home made storm glass for her birthday. To date this has been one of the coolest channels I've subscribed to. Looking forward to seeing your continued progress on this!
I sent an email saying something similar, but there's a Nonwoven Institute at NC State that might have some useful resources for making predictable fabrics out of this stuff. It has links to researchers across the country, there might be some nearby with relevant work you could maybe reach out to - I for one know that if I got an email from someone about my research I'd be down to talk to them about it for a bit.
Oh good he saw that
The progress you have made with very humble expenditures (aside from the countless hours) is very impressive.
You should consider applying for a grant from the DOE or maybe from DuPont (makers of tyvek), as they could probably adapt their machines to churn it out in huge quantiites. If this material fulfills its promise it has far reaching consequences in reducing the need for AC and providing economical cooling for third world countries. I imagine a tent made of this would be quite pleasant on hot summer days. I'm curious about its insulating properties, considering that Polar Bears need warming more than cooling. Does infrared light penetrate as easily as visible light? Thank you for your inspiring brilliant work!
Those companies would just steal what he's got and likely eliminate him. They are scumbags. All big corporations are now. Filthy, lying scumbags.
I'm sure he is "discovering" something that has been journaled, parented and shelved. Asking for a friend.
*Patented damned telephones.
i'd consider finding a way to make sure no patent trolls can, uh, patent troll it
i think to be used day-to-day it would need to be made out of something that doesn't degrade in the sun (or at least, more on the level of cotton/hemp/linen fibres than plastic), as getting people to rely on plastic that will degrade for their cooling sounds like a disaster waiting to happen
He gotta lawyer up and ensure he owns the patent, or do something like give it to a trust that is obligated to just use the patent defensively and revoke the license of anyone that tries to engage in anti-competitive or anti-consumer practices, but otherwise let it be used as if it was public domain.
Nissan is testing this paint on their cars and they intend to launch a paint like this in the future. The challenge is for you in your laboratory to launch a weather-resistant paint before Nissan.
More information:
Nissan trialing cool paint technology
Embedded metamaterial helps lower cabin temperatures and reduce energy usage, taking the heat out of summer
Didn't Mythbusters test this? A miniscule amount of heat comes through the sheet metal compared to the windows. I feel like they might have other reasons for studying this than just automotive paints.
@@AnttiBrax The point is not only to test, but to make the paint last as long as the automotive paint, whoever does this will make the new one millions of dollars.
@@AnttiBrax Nothing pops up when I try a search, but that's not odd for mythbusters stuff, for some odd reason.
That said, no. Plenty of studies have been done showing car paint color has a massive effect on interior temperature.
@@AnttiBraxkeyword “metamaterial” they tend to have VERY different properties to what we observe in nature (well commonly)
Knowing that Nissan makes vehicles with paint that scratches when you look at them funny means that their eventual "success" still does not inspire confidence. Even IF it works properly it will make an existing problem worse. That is that white vehicles grow more mould due to the lower colour temperature. Such a layer of mould will negate the desired effect, as would any layer of dirt. Owners would be required to safely clean it without scratching. Those are two things that do not happen.
First I've seen of this series, and it seems so neat! Can't wait to see how far you can take this.
Man, you are amazing. I've been fascinated by this idea of radiative cooling ever since first seeing Tech Ingredients' video on it, and I love that you've singlehandedly done so much to develop these techniques. This really could be one large piece of the answer for decreasing our energy dependence, I believe.
Every new upload in this series is like Christmas come early. My Patreon dollars feel well-spent :)
I know what you mean, I'm not on patreon because I'm poor but I'm so invested, when I first saw that thread come out of that bottle and that mat pull off the screen I was so happy 😅
Would single thread pulling onto a spool and then weaving them together into threads be feasible?
A similar setup to wet spinning
This would allow the creation of threads of various thicknesses and strengths and create a weaved fabric
Weaved fabric seems like the best way to do it. It would increase the opacity while also increasing the density for better heat transfer. Additional benefits are durability and that it'd simply look better.
The term is WOVEN.
What is the difference between pulling a single thread and the "concept" demo he did at the beginning with the metal rake? I'm not familiar with thread pulling, but it seems like creating a thread from the liquid isn't very straightforward.
@@JustinLebo-d3t take a look at how nylon fibers are pulled, they go directly from a vat of raw materials onto a spool. If you go slowly enough, the "skin" of dried polymer at the top of your vat can be pulled into one continuous fiber. I think NileRed did one of his classic videos on Nylon 6,6
When thread is woven into fabric the basic way is an over under then reverse with under over. Did you ever make those hot pad holders when you were a kid? Weaving is a bit like that. Thats about the simplest way I can explain it. Blowing it onto the screen is not the same as weaving. It's more like making paper like he said. So is it more paper like or more like fabric? Great video. I'm an older lady who has sewn for over 50 years. I'm a bit slow on the mechanics of this but it's very interesting.
One of the only youtubers out doing the work to make real change. Incredible stuff, man.
Can't wait until this method is perfected, mass-produced, and widely available for purchase as clothing and building materials.
My Man, When I grow up... I hope I'm half as smart as you. I have a Long way to go! Sometimes I struggle simply recreating what you've already done at home.
Your Videos Rejuvenate my Curiosity... Thank you NightHawkingLight, I thank you for reminding me of my Love of Science and a Hands on approach ❤️ 👍
My little advice - never grow up 😁 At least not inside. Cherish that curiosity of a young person, feed it and let it enjoy "the pleasure of finding things out" as Feynman did. Oh btw, if you like reading, try his book with the same title. You will see that science people can have a lot of fun in their lives too 😉
Good example here on youtube is Robert Murray-Smith. Watching him laugh when some experiments give results is amazing and contagious. And you can see instantly, that he is feeding that inner child curiosity all the time.
Just a little quote from and old series Stargate SG1 episode "The Nox":
OHPER: Knowledge takes time. Over the years we teach the young to be wise.
Ooo, relevant experiment for you from my notebook. Sometime back, I was working with graphene and long chain polymers in adaptation experiments, and did a similar trial to accumulate graphene-doped 'filament thread' for collection. I procured both MEK substitute and ethyl acetate 99% for lab use, and the substitute seems to have extra solvents as it smells very different, as well as the substitute performing vastly better on breaking down other polymers like GF-nylons.
Anyway, spinning filament (more like a thread, not the 3D printing variant) works well for collection by dripping it to a thin string-like consistency, blowing a light stream of air over it to evap the solvents and wrapping it around a spinning cylinder turned into a large bobbin for collection. With a little fine tuning, you could also used die-sized rollers for better consistency. I used .035 v-grooved rollers from a welding feeder as I had one and replacements are very cheap.
Add: Good, you switched to pellets. Was going to suggest that, too.
Also, a similar method works on an industrial scale. I used to work in a plant that made cellulose acetate fibers, and the spinning method was to dissolve the CA in acetone, force the solution through very small orifices, and they'd form into fibers as the solvent evaporated. Those fibers were drawn onto rollers (through a whole series of finishing steps) to both collect the fibers and keep them moving. We blew a stream of warm nitrogen over the fibers to evaporate the solvent, in order to reduce fire risk, but warm air works well enough for small scale testing.
@@lektromag That's actually pretty cool. I hadn't considered trying that with extrusion for fibers, but I sure can adapt an injection machine I've been building (was planning to use it for mold testing) and try the roller method. Hmm!
More alcohol also solves most of my problems.
Does it? Or does it just make you not care about them? :P
Be very careful w that as it can cause far more problems than it solves. But I certainly understand that thought!!
Ah the cause and solution to most of society's problems.
@@PhaTs00p No, that would be our filthy guuvt...But their 'solutions' are always far more evil than the issues they CAUSED.
@@3nertia i mean, if they're not effecting him anymore, what's the difference?
Genuinely so excited to see how this project has progressed. It is fascinating that you accidentally discovered a way to retain warmth while actively trying to do the opposite. The potential to eliminate overheating in an accessible form for the average individual might be the most important thing to have happened in my lifetime. Keep up the great work and honestly you should be nominated for a Nobel Prize. Genuinely thank you for this contribution.
This is pretty fascinating. I bought a FLIR cam as a 'nerd toy' but it has been quite useful. Found a 'water leak' that technically never made a drip or puddle in my sink drains because the evaporative cooling. It can help spot high resistance. See drafty spots in the house... Heck you can even see the studs in the wall a bit. Anyways if you're a nerd it's worth it for a lower end one. Just visually seeing how heat interacts with the world is wild.
Anyways for reflectiveness, what about mylar? One of those space blanket deals. Even better that stupidly reflective material I think 3M makes?
Which one did you get? I’ve been looking to get a cheaper one for a while
@@joybreegaming8781 flir tg165 I believe
@@joybreegaming8781 I've gone through a number of thermal devices over the years, and weirdly the FLIR branded ones were my least favorite. Check out Infiray or seek thermal to find one that fits your needs. If you ever get the chance to check out a higher-end device like an RH-25... better be sitting down, and hold on to your wallet. You can see the studs in the walls, sure, but you can also see where the drywall screws are when the conditions are right. And if you go outside, find / identify all the wildlife in your yard. Thermal in general is definitely a new way of seeing the world.
It can be frustrating during the design process, especially when things don't work even when following the same set of steps. But when you get that break through it gets to be fun again! Also, I never saw the pivot coming with the polar bear effect type of winter clothing. When trying to stay cool the same material can help you stay warm. Awesome video!
Polar bear hairs are hollow. They work like fiberoptic cables, directing sunlight directly down to the bear's black skin where it is absorbed. The hollow hairs also hold air which is not easily exchanged with the atmosphere, increasing their insolation value dramatically. This combination of factors means that a polar bear can overheat in the sunlight even when ambient temperatures are well below zero.
Wow, enhanced inSOLation as well as inSULation!
@@ElectricNed Sol is the name of the sun. It has a double meaning. That's totally what I was going for... totally! 🤓
@@Naomi_Boyd 😉
I've heard others say this too, but wouldn't that work the other way as well, also guiding the polar bears IR emissions out to the environment?
@@WarttHog That is a good question. I haven't even thought about it, but I'd say it depends on the wavelength of light. I heard someone say that the holes in the safety screen of your microwave oven could be a lot bigger and still work. As long as they have a diameter of less than half a wavelength, they will reflect the microwaves. I think it might have been Nile Red making plasma in the microwave. Maybe it works for bears as well, and the IR just doesn't fit through the hole.
Thanks!
Great video! I'll leave my thoughts and critiques.
My understanding is you're trying to exploit both reflective and emissive cooling.
Emissive cooling only removes heat from the material that is doing the emission. To remove heat from a secondary object, first the heat needs to transfer from that object into your emissive material.
Two properties that make fabric good for clothing are that it is flexible, and it's a relatively good insulator (low thermal conductivity). Unfortunately, I think that second property works hard against your goal of emissive cooling, since the heat transfer from the hat to the fabric will be quite slow.
Perhaps there are ways of increasing the thermal conductivity of the fabric while keeping it's flexibility. Maybe embedding some kind of conductive fibre e.g. metal wire/mesh, or some kind of glue to bond it to the material.
Beautiful work! But keep in mind that the temperature values obtained with the thermal imaging camera depend on the emmissivity of the materials, which for pla and aluminum are very different from each other. Also outdoors the measurement on the aluminum could be very offset by the reflection of the sun on the aluminum. Maybe when you take the measurements place the hat in the shade. Anyway great result!!!
He never referred to the aluminum temperature itself as he knows its reflective.
You know what would be awesome for radiant cooling? Distilling water.
Get a container of water. Paint it with the most heat-absorbing black, thus maximizing the temperature of the water inside. Additional mirrors can be used to increase the sunlight hitting this container to increase its temperature even more (see below).
The container is connected to another container via a tube filled with air that is painted with this radiant cooling material. The goal is to passively keep this container as cool as possible. Water in the hot container will evaporate because it's so hot, and the goal is to have that moisture travel to the cool container and condensate. Thus, you will have distilled water for free.
The effectiveness could be maximized by reflecting all the sunlight that would hit the cool container to the hot container to increase its temperature. Putting the cool container in the shade should help it so long as it is still able to radiate as much heat as possible to the zenith.
Fresnel lens would help also
proof of concept: dig a hole, bury container with hose coming up to the surface. connect to black camping shower bag (they're designed to be warmed by sunlight, and pretty cheap and easy to get), let sit in the sun.
for a more usable setup, it'd probably be best to put the in-ground container somewhere like a cave, but still partially buried into the earth. would likely be effective in a place like arizona where the ground is very clay heavy, which makes for really good thermal conduction (as far as dirt is concerned)
i LOVE how far your channel has come!! i also really appreciate you sharing what you learn, as it seems you genuinely just want the world to be a better place. I for one, believe it IS a better place, with you in it. THANK YOU for the work you do
If the fabric is eventually perfected and it manages to radiate the heat and disperse it (making the hat keep cold inside as well) this would be so helpful to so many people. I work during summers in farms, and the temperatures can easily go over 43°C (which if im not wrong is around 107 or so farenheit), if a fabric out there managed to actually keep cold during the intense heat, it would immensely improve the quality of life of so many people working in the sun
this is honestly such a fascinating and amazing concept, which I think could become something really really good to a lot of people, and the fact that you have this research so open to the public is amazing!!! Mad props!!
Truly the coolest channel around
**badum tish**
It finally happened. I'm subscribed to a guy in a tinfoil hat XD
I think it is less about the polar bear effect and more about opacity in general. If the light penetrates deeper into the material there is a bigger chance of it being absorbed rather than reflected.
What I don''t really understand is how the foil backing can perform better than just a second sheet of the fabric, assuming that the fabric reflects more light than the foil.
Maybe it's not the reflective property of aluminum, but the fact that aluminum is a great heat conductor. It could be that a sheet of aluminum helps to dissipate the heat more effectively.
The fibers radiate IR towards all sides, both up and down. All the rays, that it radiates downward get reflected by the foil.
@@sasjadevries I dont think that can be the case. As was said in the video the fabric should be absorbing less light (is white) while having the right emission spectrum to radiate heat as well while aluminium foil absorbs 15% of light (is gray, but same goes for invisible ir)
@@crocobroco4654 I think the fact that the foil is physically bonded to the fabric made more of a difference than the fact that it was foil. he used foil to ensure that none of the light would make it through for testing purposes but in a better use case I think that bonding to another layer of fabric (ie. the outer layer being thicker) would probably outperform the foil. the problem seemed to be more to do with the fact that they were separate layers which created a thermal insulation barrier allowing the underlayer to retain it's heat (which also could reflect back due to the outer layer), whereas if it were one layer or multiple thermally coupled layers that effect may not dominate the result quite as much.
It would be interesting to see the effect on an arbitrarily thick sample to see what effect the light penetration depth had on the absorbtion of heat and whether a thicker or a denser fabric is more optimal
@@crocobroco4654except AGAIN it is radiating that heat towards everywhere, ie; the hat. The foil makes it so it radiates heat in every direction EXCEPT the hat.
@12:40 There's actually no need to have a sealed rotating joint, you could literally use a tube half the diameter even if they don't touch as long as the end of the tube is inside the bottle, the liquid will drip down, and touch the edge where it will form a hollow cylinder
The spider web from hot glue i saw was attatching an air sompressor with a long thin nozzle to a glue gun.
Couldnt you do the same with a 3D printer pen and an air compressor nozxle?
Your videos are top notch. You are one of very few that are 100% real, with results that can be replucated. Thank you for your integrity, curiosity and providing interesting and useful topics.
I see this Material used on "Greenhouse Covers", as they will remain cool as heat in a greenhouse rises. But don't know how durable in direct sunlight. Willing to Test!
Also with the polar bear effect to keep plants warm as a termal blanket but allowing sunlight in.
28:54 obviously to fight against Predator!
Probably more likely drones in Ukraine war. But I like your suggestion a lot more.
Perhaps you can become The Man in the White Suit (although it would be wise to omit radium from the formula).
@multiplysixbynine Obi-Hawk-in-Wight?
I have been watching you since around your soup can forge and I am so happy to see that your ambitions have grown and your curiosity hasn't shrunk. Thank you for your videos! Great Work!
This channel becomes more and more one of my favourites on YT. Cool an informative in so many ways. Thanks for the great content!
Try blasting your fabric solutions out of paintgun that's connected to air compressor
I tried doing DIY paint out of styrofoam dissolved in toluene and blasting it with paintgun produced spiderweb like fabric
Tries to make solar cooling fabric
Accidentally makes solar heating fabric
That's how innovation happens!
I could not suggest a way to improve the overall fabric. However, improving the hat seems much easier. form a mold of the hat, spray a suitable release, and form from the machine you made. this should resolve most issues with the hat and potentially other products (such as shoes), were a stiffer option is preferable.
I would like to see the effectiveness of samples tested to a more repeatable and comparable, maybe through a finely controllable heating element in a more controlled space. this might also allow the small details that might otherwise be lost to be noticed.
This channel is a wonder. Every time, without fail, I am uninterested in watching the video. As soon as I start, I am engrossed and cant pull away, I think of the concepts and content for months afterwards and kick myself for not watching more. Yet, as soon as a new video is published, the cycle repeats.
I love your content, keep it up!
Easily becoming one of my favourite series to follow along, absolutely fascinating and explained in a way that even my old brain can begin to get to grips with. Good luck with this and look forward to more. Pure genius.
How how do we know that the delete me owners are not also engaging in data brokerage
@@michaelcatalanottohandyman well they legally have to state how they use your data in their privacy policy and provide the option to remove your data, so... That said, reading DeleteMe and Incogni's policies DeleteMe is A LOT more porous. I use Incogni, I wouldn't use DeleteMe
That said, DeleteMe does include a statement in the California specific section that says "Do Not Sell My Information . We take your privacy seriously. We do not sell our members information. We are not a data broker." So :shrug:
Different PLA resins are worth exploring. For 3D printing 3D870 is the best from my experience. This is typically marketed as HTPLA or similar. It is significantly less brittle than other resins. It's also prints at higher temperatures, and is less likely to deform if it's sitting in the sun (although it's still not nearly as temperature resistant as other common 3D printing filaments like PETG or ABS).
As a rule of thumb, the higher the preferred temperature of a particular PLA resin, the higher the quality. A brand that prints well at 220 C is going to be better than one that prints at 200. Those will start becoming overly brittle after a year on the shelf, or even a few months.
Any pigments are also important. Many people have experienced that yellow PLA gets really brittle when it gets old. White can also do this, although not nearly as bad. Fillers like glitter or glow-in-the-dark can also have this effect, although it obviously varies.
19:05 "Some Guy in a Barn" isn't a bad channel name.
I'm kind of in awe of your R&D skills... seeing you peel that big sheet off the spinning screen, with your fabricobbled machine in your back yard.. it's so awesome.
No one thinks this is slow progress
You may be able to improve reflectivity and whiteness without affecting the process by adding titanium dioxide nanoparticles. I've found that a little of that powder goes a very long way!
Titanium dioxide isn't the best for cooling, but the same idea is a good one just with some other pigment like barium sulfate.
22:00 Why didn't you just fix the hat on the screen and cut out the excess afterwards?
Psst. That bowden tube you're using isn't made of teflon. :)
I speak from experience finding that out the long and hard way with similar tube. I can tell from it's colour/translucency as well as the other thing you mentioned: Teflon doesn't shrink with heat.
Man you are super thorough and analytical like me, and I appreciate it! Leaving no stone unturned.
You're doing pretty awesome work my friend, well done to you sir. Seeing how and why something works is by far better than the "just take my word for it" approach.
Someone give this guy a Nobel Prize already.
What about making a hat completely out of this PLA fabric? Wouldn't that solve the problem?
Wouldn't your head act as the dark surface that absorbs the light then though?
@@Red_Bastion Yes, quite possible. It depends on how much heat radiates from the back of the material. 20%? 50%?
The thermal camouflage questions are because of the sudden increase in predators on Earth as of late. Mud is not as fashionable 🤣
Dude, you're a genius and I hope you have patented all your work so far - even if it is still evolving! I am mesmerised by it all 🤷♀️
Man you have been a beacon of my happiness for 10 years. Always love every one of your videos. Thanks for the great content❤️
Try one of those emergency blankets
I was thinking the same thing - trying to use mylar instead of aluminum foil.
Exactly! I came here to say the same! Not only is its sole purpose to reflect IR, it's lighter and more durable than aluminum foil. I think it'd be the perfect underlayment for this stuff.
0:49 just like flextape
This series n has me questioning my grasp on thermodynamics ...
Take a non-contact IR thermometer and point it at the sun on a clear day. Depending on how accurately you aim, you'll see a temperature in the hundreds of degrees, maybe even off the end of the scale. Now point it just a few degrees away from the sun - it doesn't have to be very far. You'll see a temperature much, much lower than ambient, possibly even below freezing. During the day! Now imagine: a coating that, in addition to being so reflective that it reflects virtually all the energy the sun projects onto it, also radiates its own heat to that huge, low temperature heat sink in the rest of the sky.
The same way you can have a coating that absorbs heat super-well and DOESN'T re-radiate it, here's a coating that doesn't absorb hardly any, and radiates really really well. So instead of getting crazy hot, it slowly cools off even under direct sun - direct sun that, due to the reflectivity, doesn't have much effect.
My admittedly scientifically illiterate gist is that the material is acting as an intermediate between a heat source and the cold of space.
It can get colder than the surrounding environment simply because it's better at moving that heat into a really cold place.
Effectively, it's like if you stuck a copper rod into the ground. The rod would get colder than the surrounding air, but it's because it was better at moving that energy into the cooler ground. Except in this case the heat transfer is radiation instead of conduction, and the ground is outer space.
it vibes with the coldness of space without being reabsorbed by the Earth's atmosphere. Because it vibes so well, it's cool as well.
The materal is changing the frame of reference for thermal transfer.
In one part by being highly reflective to IR radiation, and in the other by being prone to radating heat in an bandwith that our clouds and atmosphere does not like to absorb
Thus changing the frame of reference from the planet, to the solar system.
I gotta say, I love the dust mask you're wearing in that clip with the cotton candy machine. Really high tech stuff.
18:44 @NightHawkInLight for fiber collection could you use a horizontal or vertical drum of screen to collect the fibers? Then you could cut the fiber sheet lengthwise off the drum and you should get a rectangular sheet of the fiber.
Never been this early, Love your content!
You want a dielectric mirror instead of foil
If this channel invents a dielectric mirror fabric just to solve their self-invented radiative cooling fabric problem there should be large prizes awarded
All the people asking if it would work for thermal camoflage are secretly bigfoots
first youtuber to win a nobel prize! this is world changing technology, great job brother. what if a backyard experiment turns into a multi billion dollar chemical company. hopefully you're already in contact with a patent attorney. even if you diddnt want to do the leg work of manufacturing, your entire future lineage will live like kings from the licensing agreements.
a small diaphragm pump would be a really cheap replacement for the syringe in larger scale runs. To make longer runs, make a belt out of window screen over 2 rollers with a drive motor turning one and place several machines in series to build up thicker, non-aligned layers of spun fibers. Peel the beginning edge onto a rotating cardboard tube like paper towels are rolled.
I feel stupid asking this but does radiative cooling help like... global warming?
This is a great question... I guess it would. AFAIK CO2 buildup helps trap heat, and earth's surface doesn't radiate enough of it in the wavelength window that allows it to exit the earth. So if we covered, say, large tracts of a desert with Ben's material, then that should actually help...
There are no stupid questions, Evan.
The point is actually to decrease the use of other cooling elements like ac and create a better material than what's currently available.
I think using an IR thermometer that bases its measurement on emitted IR light for measuring the temperature of an emissive material is flawed methomogy. Maybe try adding some contact thermometers into the samples?
This. I think the IR thermometer makes for cool videos but it is extremely flawed when you're looking at ~2-5C difference in temperatures. Thermocouples are also hard because of the necessity to correctly control convection and conduction heat transfer. All in all, it's as he says: "a guy in a garage"... You can't really do much better without proper instrumentation, education and funding.
I've clicked this fast before, but that's just up to reaction time at this point
Well, I'm barely resisting the temptation to go cobble together fans & order the chemicals because I find this exciting! On a side note, if I were to try this I'd also attempt a batch with polyethylene. Whenever I cut wholes in a polyethylene tank the resulting plastic dust feels so cold to the touch I thought it burned me once on a hot day because of the perceived temperature difference. I haven't researched it further since I'm sucked into too many other projects but hopefully this anecdotally gets some gears turning. I can't wait to see how you get the spherical barium sulfate (if I remember that correctly) into this method
I'm so curious as to how many fiber artists you have in your community. I could see this evolve into spraying the fibers directly onto nylon fabric that has been dipped or coated in your paint, or dipping thread or yarn, like acrylic or nylon, into your paint and then spraying the fibers onto it. That would seem to solve a lot of issues, potentially, and also give you more stable fabric bases to manipulate into wearable pieces. I was comparing this to the reflective material that cyclists wear for safety, and there's someone who makes thread and yarn and fabric from it to make custom clothes that are reflective. Keep up the amazing work! I know my mind is reeling with possibilities, and I can't wait to see where you take it!
Get ready for calls from defense contractor. Also get in touch with a patent lawyer!
The owner of a company I worked for answered my question about patenting. "It's a huge waste of time and money." Thru my own investigations I understood what he meant. It's like like paying a lot of money to restrict your own freedoms, while letting Hillary and the CPC have your ideas totally free.
Likely too late for all that. It costs over ten grand to go that route, and the scumbags would steal it anyway. That's the world we live in now.
It might not be patentable anymore now that the process is in the public domain (?)
@@albyt3403 probably just as well - then it can't be buried or hoarded by rich bastards.
All very good points and probably most helpful has considered. At least we are gifted with public knowledge!
I mean when something looks cold on a thermal camera, it doesn't mean it's necessarily cold. It just doesn't radiate much infrared radiation. So shouldn't a real cooling fabric look hot on a thermal camera? because it radiates the energy away? Maybe I'm missing something, but since your first video about the topic, I have the impression you have a misconception about the testing method with the thermal camera. what you actually need are real probes, which you stuff under the fabric.
Lower infrared radiation does mean lower surface temperature. But yes, actual thermometers under the fabric would give a better idea of how well the fabric might perform as clothing...
@@nosy-cat The first answer is interesting. "The opposite is also true: 2 identical hot objects, one black and one white, radiate heat differently, the black one will get rid of more heat than the white one."
The thermal from under the hat should give some indication.
Maybe stick your hat right on your machine and blow the pla mix right on to it.
With the double layer on the hat, the upper layer was cooling through radiation to space, but the lower layer is not able to since it’s view of space is blocked, but it IS warming through conduction being in contact with the warm hat and warm air.
this is actually some of the best content in the diy scientific space, thank you for sharing your journey with us.
I cant believe how fast you've developed an actual fabric 😮
When I first saw your videos I figured you would do this eventually but didnt think we'd see something this quickly!
The really promising thing about this new technique is that creating fabric with different properties on different sides e.g. black/ reflective should be trivial simply by injecting different mixtures at different points in the process. Really excited to see what you come up with!
hot dang! based on the prior tests I was NOT expecting a consistent and large piece of fabric to be able to be produced. Very Nice!
Great improvements to the process! I was expecting you to bring the machine into a temperature-controlled space rather than adding a hot air input.
The DIY swivel connector would make a good UA-cam Short.
One of the best transitions to a sponsorship I've seen lately.
Been interested in nanoporous polyethylene fabrics (and other passive cooling) for some time and this man is doing the research of entire dedicated labs himself.
There has to be a large handful of people who have said this already, but what if you spray it directly onto a mylar blanket? The blanket then could serve two purposes more efficiently. One side would be for cooling and work more efficiently than ever, and if the other side was dark, it could warm up well. Love the work you're putting into this!
Extremely well done and informative. I think that you are not only intelligent but capable of taking an idea and making it actually become viable.
Thank you for all day you do. You are an inspiration for all diy folks