A material inspired by plastic wrap could keep you cooler than anything you’ve ever worn before – perhaps even cool enough to help kill your dependence on air conditioning.
Stanford University researcher Yi Cui, unveiled an innovative textile made of plastic that isn’t too far off from common plastic wrap. The main difference is they engineered theirs to be breathable, which means you can wear it without your body suffocating. And because it’s plastic, the material offers something clothing fabrics don’t: the ability to let body heat escape as infrared light.
Thermal management through personal heating and cooling is a strategy by which to expand indoor temperature setpoint range for large energy saving. We show that nanoporous polyethylene (nanoPE) is transparent to mid-infrared human body radiation but opaque to visible light because of the pore size distribution (50 to 1000 nanometers).
We processed the material to develop a textile that promotes effective radiative cooling while still having sufficient air permeability, water-wicking rate, and mechanical strength for wearability. We developed a device to simulate skin temperature that shows temperatures 2.7° and 2.0°C lower when covered with nanoPE cloth and with processed nanoPE cloth, respectively, than when covered with cotton. Our processed nanoPE is an effective and scalable textile for personal thermal management.
Radiative human body cooling by nanoporous polyethylene textile
Polyethylene, the material used to make plastic wrap, lets infrared radiation pass right through, but it’s also transparent and holds in moisture.
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