Luquafleece Functional Cooling Vests

With higher outdoor temperatures or increasing skin temperature during sports or work activity, the water molecules firmly bound inside the functional cooling clothing absorb the thermal energy, evaporate from the large surface of the three-dimensional nonwoven structure and thereby cool down the wearer. The body sweats less and thereby saves energy that would usually be needed for thermoregulation. External cooling can therefore provide an increase in performance of up to ten percent in hot conditions.

Humans are born runners. Evolution once gave us the ability to overcome the distance of many kilometers through the hot savannas of Africa. In addition to the upright posture of the body and head and the optimized mechanics of legs and feet, cooling by millions of sweat glands plays a key role. Under extreme stress, they can release about one liter of sweat per hour and cool down the body by evaporation.

This limits our performance even at moderate outdoor temperatures. Athletes as well as workers and many other people worldwide who are exposed to high temperatures are therefore now using active functional cooling clothing. Thanks to innovative materials, this pro­vides evaporative cooling which is individually dosable and lasts for hours. The functional cooling textiles of the E.COOLINE and IDENIXX brands, incorporating the spe­cially developed superabsorbent nonwoven fabric from BASF, offer a mobile air conditioning system to wear which effectively supports the cooling system of the human body.

 Cooling vests, for example, are easy to use and can be worn like any other item of clothing once being activated by “charging” with water. The water enters the active layer – the Luquafleece® from BASF – after being rapidly absorbed and distributed through a bacteriostatic textile fabric. “The fibers of this nonwoven fabric are coated with superabsorbent polymers (SAP) through a special technology. They absorb the water in a few seconds and retain it,” explains the expert Norbert Heidinger of BASF New Business GmbH, who markets the material.

Like a fishing net, the polymer network of the superab­sorber traps increasing numbers of water particles until its elastic restoring forces compensate the osmotic forces of the prevailing concentration gradient. In this way Luquafleece® can absorb ten times its weight in water and retain it so firmly, that the functional textiles are dry on the surface.

Functional cooling textiles of core sports and occupational safety brands use a special superabsorber fleece from BASF.

Luquafleece® - the superabsorbent fabric

Luquafleece® is produced by applying the starting materials directly onto the nonwoven fibers and only then polymerizing them to create the superabsorber. This stable combination is the key factor for the long-term applications in moisture-regulating office chairs.

• Air permeable
• Efficient climate control
• Immobilized SAP – no release of powder
• Easily combined with other materials (such as textile, nonwoven and film)
• Ensured long term stability
• Light weight performance product

What advantages offers the BASF product Luquafleece® for you?

In this joint project, it was particularly important for us to obtain a washable cooling product which is also hard-wearing and hygienic. The three-dimensional nonwoven fabric with its special fiber structure also offers an enormously large surface area capa­ble of delivering 600 watts per liter of cooling energy through the evaporating water. Through our “cool to go” principle, the material generates a rapid and perceptible cooling effect even in extreme environmental conditions.

Visit the BASF website to learn more about Luquafleece® and other fabulous performance fabrics and finishes for textiles.  https://www.basf.com/

Learn more from the Mobile Air Conditioner to Wear article posted on the BASF website.

Learn about wicking and more about performance fabrics.

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