In the production workshop of the Textile Materials Research and Development Center of the Tianjin Branch of Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute in Inner Mongolia (hereinafter referred to as "Rare Earth Institute Tianjin Branch"), intelligent spinning equipment is running at full capacity. Technicians in work clothes are shuttling between the spinning machine and the detector, and the electronic screen is showing key parameters such as fiber diameter and porosity in real time. What they are working hard to produce is the first batch of 100,000 meters of slim ice and refreshing cooling protective fabric with the function of a "portable air conditioner". After being made into workwear, these new types of fabrics that integrate rare earth black technology will soon bring the first coolness of this summer to the workers of Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Group who are fighting on the front line in high temperatures.
Behind a seemingly ordinary T-shirt lies the innovative breakthrough made by researchers in the application of rare earth functional materials. The "Rare Earth Infrared Reflective Hollow Insulating Polyamide Fiber" jointly developed by the Tianjin Branch of the Rare Earth Research Institute and Tianjin Textile Science has successfully introduced cutting-edge aerospace thermal control technology into the civilian textile field through its unique "reflective insulation + transmissive heat dissipation" dual-effect cooling mechanism. This achievement recently won the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Achievements" of the China Textile Academy in 2024. The core lies in the innovative construction of a rare earth element ratio model, enabling the fibers to reflect over 90% of solar radiation heat in the 400-2500 nanometer band, while achieving an infrared transmittance of 93% in the 8-13 micrometer atmospheric window, thus creating a continuous active cooling effect.
Third-party product testing data shows that fabrics applying this technology can reduce the perceived temperature by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius, and the coolness lasts more than twice as long as the national standard. They still maintain stable performance after 50 washes. Traditional cool-feeling fabrics are like applying sunscreen on the fabric surface, while our technology turns each fiber into a miniature air conditioner. Shi Wenjing, director of the Textile Materials Research and Development Center of the Tianjin Branch of the Rare Earth Research Institute, made an analogy.
The R&D team spent two years breaking through key technologies such as rare earth nano-dispersion and multi-level pore structure design. The pioneering hollow porous fiber form has increased the fabric's breathability by 30% and the sweat drainage efficiency by 40%, while also featuring antibacterial and UV protection functions. During the on-site test at the coking plant of Baotou Steel, the front-line workers wearing the new type of work clothes maintained a perceived temperature of around 28 degrees Celsius in a high-temperature environment of 40 degrees Celsius. The humidity inside the work clothes was reduced by 15 percentage points compared with traditional fabrics.
At present, the production line for the transformation and application of this technology in Baotou Rare Earth High-tech Zone is under construction. In the future, the production line will also achieve large-scale production of multi-functional masterbatches such as rare earth heat storage, heat insulation and UV resistance. After its full completion in 2025, the annual production capacity of thermal management masterbatch on the production line will increase to five times the current level. Market analysis shows that the global market size of temperature-controlled fibers has exceeded 100 billion yuan, while the penetration rate of rare earth functional textiles in China is still less than 1%. The sharp contrast of this set of data reflects the huge imagination space of the innovative combination of "rare earth + textile".
Meanwhile, researchers from Nankai University are collaborating with the Tianjin Branch of the Rare Earth Research Institute to tackle photothermal responsive rare earth fibers. In the future, it is expected that they will develop self-adaptive temperature-regulating clothing that is warm in winter and cool in summer. As Shi Wenjing pointed out, when rare earth functional materials move from laboratories to textile workshops and when thermodynamic equations are transformed into the tangible experiences of the general public, this technological revolution that starts with atomically level material design is redefining the connotation of "technology worn on the body".
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