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Spinning and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Thread for Thermally Conductive Textiles

Kluener, Joseph T.

Abstract Details

2011, MS, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Mechanical Engineering.

In firefighting, the heat from the battle may be so intense that firefighters overheat inside their own protective suits. Overheating the body reduces human performance and leads to injuries and fatalities. Current technology relying on normal conduction and convection heat transfer through thermally insulating materials to cool a firefighter’s suit is over one-hundred years old. Clearly, an improved approach is needed to cool a firefighter’s suit. A search investigating passive and active methods of cooling and new materials was conducted. The search led to a new age material - carbon nanotubes (CNT) that may be used to form thermally conductive textiles. CNT are known for their exceptionally high mechanical, electrical and thermal conduction properties, but nanotubes are short microscopic fiber materials. Discovering that CNT could be spun into a macro-scale thread that retains good thermal conductivity led to the idea that a solid-state thermal circuit using CNT thread integrated into the fabric of a firefighter’s suit might be able to solve the overheating problem.

The first step in developing a highly thermally conductive material was to improve the mechanical properties of CNT thread material. The thread must be tough and resist abrasion and possibly withstand being woven into the cotton layer of a firefighter’s suit. Improving the mechanical properties of thread involved spinning and characterizing thread. The mechanical strength of the CNT thread was improved in the project by optimizing the diameter and twist angle of the thread, and by post-treatment. The improved thread was strong enough to be hand-sewn into the cotton fabric and thermally tested. The approach to improve cooling used the near one-dimensional conductivity of CNT to direct heat to a cold sink contained within the firefighter apparel. This is a simple passive approach to improve the cooling of the firefighter particularly to remove some of the heat produced by the body. Base cotton fabric and hand-sewn CNT/cotton composite fabric samples were attached to a cold bath and tested for thermal conductivity using a Linear Heat Conduction system for measuring thermal conductivity. To produce a solid-state thermal cooling circuit, the transverse thermal conductivity of the CNT composite fabric attached to a cold bath must be less than the transverse conductivity for the base cotton fabric. The simple experimentation performed showed the thermal conductivity for the base cotton fabric was significantly less than the value for the CNT composite fabric. This result indicates that CNT thread can be used to form thermally conductive textiles and potentially create a solid-state thermal cooling circuit in firefighter suits. Suggestions to carry on this promising work, including improving the thermal measurements, modeling, testing, and to building a prototype firefighter suit are given in the thesis.

Mark Schulz, PhD (Committee Chair)
J. Kim, PhD (Committee Member)
Vesselin Shanov, PhD (Committee Member)
106 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kluener, J. T. (2011). Spinning and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Thread for Thermally Conductive Textiles [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1318610027

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kluener, Joseph. Spinning and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Thread for Thermally Conductive Textiles. 2011. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1318610027.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kluener, Joseph. "Spinning and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Thread for Thermally Conductive Textiles." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1318610027

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)