Today's uniforms and military camouflage systems for objects and buildings are more than camouflage prints made to blend in with the environment to prevent them from being seen. Specially-designed materials can also provide screening against the tell-tale IR radiation (infrared). Up until now it has been the IR-absorbing vat dyes of the camouflage print that ensure the wearers are invisible to the CCD sensors on night-vision devices. But according to researchers from the Hohenstein Institute in Germany, the dye particles soon reach the limits of their absorption capability. To address this issue, a team from the institute and ITCF Denkendorf developed a new type of IR-absorbent textiles. By dosing or coating chemical fibres with nanoparticles of ITO (indium tin oxide), the heat radiation can be more effectively absorbed and so a better screening effect can be achieved than with conventional comouflage prints. ITO is a transparent semiconductor which is also used, for example, in the touchscreens of smartphones. The challenge for the researchers was to bind the ITO particles to the textiles in such a way that there was no detrimental effect to their other properties, such as their comfort. The treatment also had to be made resistant to washing, abrasion and weathering. The researchers measured the absorption, transmission and reflection to evaluate the screening effect of the textile treatment, that is, that of UV radiation (ultraviolet), visible light and NIR (near infrared). The NIR screening effect in particular which is important for night-vision devices, was found to be markedly better when compared with untreated textile samples.
See ... without being seen. New research has developed textiles that can effectively shield infrared radiation
Sehen, ohne gesehen zu werden: Militärtechnische Textilien mit Nanopartikeln aus Indiumzinnoxid für eine bessere Tarnung
Future Materials ; Jun ; 27
2011
1 Seite, 2 Bilder
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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