Hollow glass beads/polyurethane multifunctional foamed membranes based on structure-function co-design and their extreme environmental applications.

Abstract

Outdoor adventures in extreme environments place stringent requirements on the multifunctional integration of materials, and the existing research has made it difficult to synergize the UV resistance, infrared stealth, and thermal insulation properties due to the limitations of structural design, let alone expanding the additional functions. In this study, based on the concept of “structure-function synergistic design”, the HGB/polyurethane foamed film was prepared by the scraping method through the synergistic effect of the sodium dodecyl sulfate (NXZ) and hollow glass beads (HGB), which realizes the synergistic enhancement of multi-functionality and expansion of functions for the first time. Experiments show that NXZ (0.2 wt%) and HGB (24 wt%) synergistically enhance the UPF of the film by 12 times compared with that of the NXZ-free film through the “scattering-barrier” synergistic effect, reduce the infrared emissivity by 10.19 %, and the thermal conductivity is as low as 0.03995 W/(m∙K), and at the same time, realize the acoustic absorption factor of 0.227 (2450 Hz). With the introduction of iron oxide yellow 313 dye, the UPF was further increased by 11.77 times, the IR emissivity was reduced by 20.96 %, and the self-cleaning function was given through the interfacial synergistic effect. The synergistic mechanism of “porous structure-functional unit” established in this study provides a new paradigm for the design of materials for extreme environments, which has significant potential for application.