Climate change is one of the major environmental challenges of our time, with the energy used to heat or cool buildings a significant contributor. To improve thermal comfort, households install air conditioners, which consume energy. There is therefore an urgent need to find alternative passive solutions to cool down buildings. In this paper, inspiration is taken from elephants who cool themselves thanks to the wrinkles on their skin that limit heat gain, store water, and dissipate heat by evaporative cooling. To emulate this cooling, tiles with elephant skin inspired surface texture were designed. Experimental tiles were produced using mycelium, a biodegradable material grown by a fungus, Pleurotus ostreatus. These tiles are mycelium-bound composites (MBCs) where the fungus grows on bamboo microfibers, developing an interconnected network that binds the microfibers together. The introduction of the textured surface significantly improves the thermal response of the mycelium tiles as compared to the flat surface. The textured surface produces an anisotropic tile where the thermal properties of the tiles were measured for heating and cooling on both sides. The results show an improvement in the cooling rates by 25 % in the ‘up’ orientation and a reduction in heating rate by 2 %. In simulated rain conditions with the textured tiles, the cooling is further improved by 70 % as compared to dry conditions. The elephant-mycelium tiles therefore show promise for thermal regulation of buildings in hot climates.

中文翻译：

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可生物降解的菌丝体瓷砖，具有大象皮肤的纹理，用于建筑物的热调节


气候变化是我们这个时代的主要环境挑战之一，用于加热或冷却建筑物的能源是重要因素。为了提高热舒适度，家庭安装了消耗能源的空调。因此，迫切需要找到替代的被动解决方案来为建筑物降温。在本文中，灵感来自大象，由于皮肤上的皱纹限制了热量增加、储存水分并通过蒸发冷却散热，它们使自己降温。为了模拟这种冷却效果，设计了以大象皮肤为灵感的表面纹理的瓷砖。实验性瓷砖是使用菌丝体生产的，菌丝体是一种由真菌 Pleurotus ostreatus 生长的可生物降解材料。这些瓷砖是菌丝体结合复合材料 （MBC），其中真菌生长在竹子超细纤维上，形成一个将超细纤维结合在一起的互连网络。与平面相比，纹理表面的引入显着改善了菌丝体瓷砖的热响应。纹理表面产生各向异性瓷砖，其中测量瓷砖的热性能，用于两侧的加热和冷却。结果显示，在“向上”方向上，冷却速率提高了 25%，加热速率降低了 2%。在模拟雨天条件下，与干燥条件相比，纹理瓷砖的冷却效果进一步提高了 70%。因此，大象菌丝体瓷砖在炎热气候下显示出建筑物热调节的前景。