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| 6/20/2003 |
"Refreshing" shirt underway
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6:37:47 PM
Naples, June 20 - Scientists in Italy are using space-age technology to develop a new type of shirt that keeps the body's temperature constant, thereby providing a very welcome "refreshing" feel during the hot summer months.
The research is headed by Naples-based professor Cosimo Carfagna of the Italian National Research Council (CNR).
Professor Carfagna is using so-called Phase Change Materials (PCMs), first developed by NASA to insulate delicate electronic components in satellites from the extreme variations in temperatures experienced in space.
His aim is to encapsulate PCMs in microscopic spheres to be utilised in clothing.
Shirts containing PCM capsules would absorb excess heat and thus cool the wearer down.
So-called "thermal clothing" for commercial use has already been developed in the United States, where a Colorado-based company named Gateway Technologies Inc. markets ski parkas, hunting jackets and thermal underwear using micropcms. A company in Britain is also producing gloves and footwear using PCMs.
But CNR scientists are among the first to look into the "refreshing" properties of the materials.
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