Lead
During the stunning festival, a spring snow fell in Beijing, the temperature plummeted, the farmers in the north in advance of the spring crop time, and in the struggle to endure the sudden cold weather, but because the summer harvest is a critical period of farming, so no matter how cold the weather is, farmers have to work in the fields, and even have to travel all night.
At this time, the takeaway guys in Yanshan, Beijing, are about to carry out the arduous delivery work, their hands are beginning to be cold, and their faces are also red from the cold, but their emerging bodies are covered with a "fire dragon" suit, as a takeaway staff, they will not catch a cold even in the face of the cold winter wax moon, and they can deliver meals to the masses on time.
These "fire dragon" clothes are not the flames produced after drinking the "fire wine", but are made of a foreign material, this material is the most advanced high-tech in the aerospace field, it can withstand extreme cold temperatures, and under its warmth, the takeaway brother can survive the day's workload even in the cold wind on the street, and will not suffer frostbite.
So what kind of material is this, and how does it protect the palm of the takeaway guy?
1. The emergence of aerogel materials.
The "fire dragon" suit on the takeaway brother is actually made of aerogel, a new material developed by mainland aerospace technology, which is a multiphase gel with gas on the surface and gel inside.
Aerogel is known as the world's lightest solid material, with a density of only 3 milligrams per cubic centimeter, which is three times that of hydrogen or one-tenth that of a hot air balloon.
Aerogel materials have strong heat transfer and thermal insulation capabilities, and Chinese materials scientists have conducted a series of studies on them and found that aerogel can greatly reduce the transfer of heat and sound waves, which paves the way for its large-scale application in the aerospace field.
Aerogel materials first appeared in 1932, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed materials using supercritical drying technology.
At that time, the material was widely used in spacecraft to protect astronauts from extreme sky environments due to its excellent thermal insulation properties and extremely low density.
After many experiences in spacecraft, scientists have found that the aerogel material can greatly reduce the weight of the spacecraft and reduce the energy consumption of the spacecraft, which is a very good lightweight material.
In the process of studying aerogel, scientists also found that this material can resist the erosion of extremely low temperatures in the extremely low temperature environment of liquid nitrogen, and its performance is very eye-catching.
Therefore, aerogel materials are gradually used to improve the thermal insulation design of spacesuits, and after many improvements, the performance of aerogel materials is getting better and better, and now it can withstand the low temperature of minus 196 °C in liquid nitrogen.
Studies have shown that even in the extremely low temperature environment of minus 200 °C, liquid nitrogen spraying on the position of the human body will not cause any damage, at most it will feel some cold.
2. Warmth retention under low temperature conditions.
With the development of science and technology, the mainland's aerospace technology has also continued to develop, and aerogel materials have gradually shown their "skills" in the aerospace field.
In 2013, when the mainland carried out a lunar research mission, in order to keep the temperature in the sleeping chamber at about 25 °C suitable for the human body, and avoid the threat of extreme temperature differences from the outside world to human health, scientists made a series of improvements on the sleeping compartment of the crystal cabin.
They covered the inside of the sleeping chamber with a layer of aerogel material, so that the aerogel material could play a role in thermal insulation and protection against the temperature of the external environment, so that the temperature of the sleeping chamber of the crystal chamber could be kept stable.
At the same time, it can also shield the radiation environment on the moon that is 12 times that of the earth, protect astronauts, and provide necessary protection for astronauts in an environment that is difficult to adapt.
When the mainland is carrying out space missions, it will also prepare a set of aerogel spacesuits for astronauts to ensure the safety of astronauts in space flight.
During space missions, astronauts wear spacesuits and face extremely low temperatures of minus 270 degrees Celsius in space, which is not enough to withstand hundreds of degrees of cold even in a heat storage coat designed for outdoor workers in the cruel weather.
However, the aerogel spacesuit can completely isolate the cold environment of the outside world from the suit without causing any discomfort to the skin, which makes the design of the spacesuit extremely perfect.
In the cold winter, whether it is indoor heating or outdoor daily activities, it is inseparable from the thermometer, but aerogel is not afraid of the thermometer's "force" at all, not afraid of heat or cold.
Using the structural principle of aerogel, scientists have researched and manufactured gloves that can resist the spray of an air lance at 1300 °C and the liquid nitrogen spray at minus 196 °C, which is a work glove that is very suitable for outdoor workers.
3. Use in outdoor low-temperature environments.
Many outdoor workers can only barely wear cotton clothes to work in the cold winter, but after being frozen outside for a long time, their fingers are cold all year round, and the fading of fingerprints is more common.
That's when they need a better insulating glove to protect them from the cold winds outside, and this glove is made of aerogel material.
In addition, for rescuers, the safety of the trapped people in the disaster relief area is the most important, and they often have to carry out rescue in complex environments such as mountains and waters, so it is necessary to assess the rescue environment before the operation.
In order to search for possible people in the rescue environment, rescuers use infrared cameras to detect suspicious people, but the cold air currents can affect the cameras.
After the garment made of aerogel material, the aerogel suit will exchange heat with the outside temperature, in which the cold will be absorbed into the inside of the garment, which can slow down the impact of air flow on the camera, improve the shooting effect of the infrared camera, and can rescue the people in the disaster area in the first time.
Therefore, aerogel materials provide a new choice for people to use in extreme environments, and the scope of application is also expanding day by day, and it is believed that in the future, aerogel materials will show its strong potential in more fields.
epilogue
The cold winter has passed, the temperature is gradually warming, and the takeaway guys can no longer freeze into "straw sandals", which is also inseparable from the protection and development of aerogel materials, and it is hoped that aerogel materials can provide more comprehensive protection for human beings in the future development.
Extended perspective
Warming temperature is the basic feature of global climate occurrence, but with the frequent occurrence of climate change and extreme weather, the thermal insulation performance of aerogel materials may be applied in more fields.
For example, in the field of outdoor sports, mountaineering, hiking, exploration and other fields, people need a clothing that can withstand the extreme environment to protect them, so you can use aerogel material clothing to resist the external environment.