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Is temperature-controlled ‘smart’ leather a possibility? Image used for representation only | Photo Credit: Pixabay Scientists at CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute in Chennai, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research in Ghaziabad, and Desert Research Centre in Cairo, Egypt may have cracked the code to build a material that can store and release heat without changing its shape. According to research published in the February 2024 issue of Diamond and Related Materials, scientists have found a way to stabilise phase change material n-eicosane and use it to coat leather for thermal regulation. Phase change materials (PCM) are substances that can store and release thermal energy and thus change their states. This study is significant as scientists have developed a shape-stabilised PCM which showed “good chemical stability and thermal reliability, even after 100 cycles of melting and crystallisation.” For the research, scientists made a new kind of porous-activated carbon (PAC) using raw trimming waste collected from tanneries and activated in an atmosphere of nitrogen. The PAC was mixed with a heat-storing substance called n-eicosane in a 1:1 ratio. While n-eicosane can be used as a PCM, mixing it with the PAC made the compound stable. This compound also showed good heat-conducting ability. It melted at 37.7 degrees C and solidified at 33.5 degrees C. Exploring industrial applications for the compound, the researchers created smart leather, coating a 15 cm x 15 cm piece of regular leather with the compound. The smart leather could stay about 2.9 degrees C cooler than regular leather. These findings are significant because they allow for leather to be worn in a wider range of climates as opposed to its usual use only in colder weather. From the Science pagesQuestion Corner
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