The cooling performance of indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) largely depends on the wettability of wet channels. Therefore, plant fiber-polymer composite was used as a novel evaporative material to enhance the wettability in IECs in this study. The plant fiber layer facing to the wet channel is hydrophilic, which can disperse water effectively by capillary action, while the opposite non-permeable polymer layer is facing to the dry channel. Firstly, comparative study was conducted to evaluate the moisture transfer properties of five evaporative materials (non-woven fabric, non-woven plant fiber, plant fiber-polymer composite, polyester fiber and Kraft paper) by wicking height, diffusivity and moisture absorption and release tests. Then, the cooling performance of a plant fiber-polymer composite based IEC prototype was tested under different working to product air ratio and climatic conditions. Results show that the plant fiber-polymer composite is promising for IEC application owing to its superior moisture transfer properties over the other selected ones. The performance test also show that the plant fiber-polymer based IEC is comparable to that of fabric coated polyurethane IEC but with cheap price and light weight. The successful application of the new material could contribute to further research and development of next generation IEC with better wettability.

间接蒸发冷却器 (IEC) 的冷却性能很大程度上取决于湿通道的润湿性。因此，在本研究中，植物纤维-聚合物复合材料被用作一种新型的蒸发材料，以提高 IEC 的润湿性。面向湿通道的植物纤维层是亲水性的，可以通过毛细作用有效地分散水分，而相对的非渗透性聚合物层面向干通道。首先，通过芯吸高度、扩散率和吸湿放湿性能对比研究了五种蒸发材料（无纺布、无纺植物纤维、植物纤维-聚合物复合材料、聚酯纤维和牛皮纸）的水分传递性能。测试。然后，在不同的工作与产品空气比和气候条件下，测试了基于植物纤维-聚合物复合材料的 IEC 原型的冷却性能。结果表明，植物纤维-聚合物复合材料由于其比其他选定的材料具有优异的水分传递性能，因此有望用于 IEC 应用。性能测试还表明，基于植物纤维聚合物的 IEC 与织物涂层聚氨酯 IEC 相当，但价格便宜且重量轻。新材料的成功应用将有助于进一步研发具有更好润湿性的下一代IEC。性能测试还表明，基于植物纤维聚合物的 IEC 与织物涂层聚氨酯 IEC 相当，但价格便宜且重量轻。新材料的成功应用将有助于进一步研发具有更好润湿性的下一代IEC。性能测试还表明，基于植物纤维聚合物的 IEC 与织物涂层聚氨酯 IEC 相当，但价格便宜且重量轻。新材料的成功应用将有助于进一步研发具有更好润湿性的下一代IEC。