Construction and Stealth Performance of Spectral-Engineered Textiles Simulating Snow Reflectance over a Wide Spectral Range
摘要
Protective fabrics with spectral simulation performance have gained considerable interest across various fields, including scientific expeditions, camouflage stealth, and outdoor operations. However, currently available spectral simulation fabrics for snowy environments are limited to short-wave spectral bands (400–780 nm), which suffer from high exposure risks, posing great threats to the safety and even survival of human beings. In this study, snow spectral simulation (SSS) spacer fabrics with a wide spectral range (350–2500 nm) were successfully constructed by virtue of composite coatings with stilbene-based compounds, BaSO4, and CaCl₂. Our simple and useful coating strategy demonstrates strong potential in scalable manufacturing and practical applications, offering valuable insights into the design and development of advanced protective textiles for snowy environments. Specifically, snow spectral simulation within the UV–Vis band (350–780 nm) was achieved by stilbene-based compounds and BaSO4. Moreover, the spacer fabrics successfully simulated NIR spectral reflectance (780–2500 nm) of natural snow via incorporating hygroscopic salt CaCl₂, which was effectively encapsulated within the intriguing 3D spacer fabric framework and further sealed by a continuous and dense BaSO₄ coating outer layer. Consequently, the prepared SSS spacer fabrics exhibited outstanding UV reflectance (> 90%), high whiteness (> 95%) in the Vis region, and deep “water absorption valleys” in the NIR region, thereby achieving an impressive spectral simulation performance over a wide spectral range viz UV–Vis–NIR (350–2500 nm) with high spectral correlation coefficients (0.94) and spectral channel proportions (74.66%). This study can open a new door for the design of special protective textiles for camouflage stealth applications.