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Stanford researchers have created a fabric that can be warm or cool in order to maintain a comfortable temperature for human skin.
In a paper published in Science Advances on Friday, the new textile is made from a reversible fabric, which is based on the same material as everyday kitchen wrap. The fabric is capable of releasing or keeping heat energy automatically depending on which side faces out.
The new invention was created by a team led by Yi Cui, professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University, whose work was funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy under the US Department of Energy.
Yi Cui, professor of materials science and engineering of Stanford University.
In order to make the fabric work properly, two layers of material with different heat energy releasing abilities were stacked and then sandwiched between layers of a cooling polyethylene.
On one side, a copper coating traps heat between a polyethylene layer and the skin. On the other, a carbon coating releases heat under another layer of polyethylene.
When the copper layer faces out, the material traps heat and warms the skin. But when the textile is reversed with the carbon layer facing out, it releases heat, thus keeping the wearer cool.
Altogether, the sandwiched material can increase a person's range of comfortable temperatures by over 5.5 degrees Celsius, and the final ideal potential temperatures could reach about 14 degrees Celsius.
If people wear clothes made of a textile like that, buildings in some climates might never need air conditioning or central heating at all.
In 2016, the team announced the first step towards a solution: Fabric that allowed the body's heat to pass through, cooling the skin.
A double layer of black carbon and copper helps a new fabric both trap and release heat.
Unlike transparent, waterproof kitchen wrap, this new material was opaque, breathable and retained its ability to shuttle infrared radiation away from the body.
The results of a laboratory test showed that the new fabric was capable of keeping artificial skin two degrees Celsius cooler – possibly enough to help a person stop using air conditioning.
Although the fabric isn't quite wearable yet, the double-duty textile has a promising future.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
