Wouldn’t it be nice if your clothes could keep you as cool as your A/C? This new, durable fabric coating can cool the wearer by up to 15 degrees Fahrenheit without using any additional energy, thanks to special crystals that reflect both infrared and ultraviolet light.
Read an ACS press release about this research: Chalk-based coating creates a cooling fabric
“Functional reflective textile coatings for personal cooling”
Presented at ACS Fall 2024 on Aug. 21, 2024
Presenter: Evan D. Patamia
Principal investigator: Trisha L. Andrew, Ph.D.
Credits:
Written and narrated by Emily Schneider
Produced by Kerri Jansen and Andrew Sobey
Edited by Janali Thompson
Executive produced by Matthew Radcliff
Hadley Marcek, Ph.D. contributed research for this video.
Research videos from Evan D. Patamia and Trisha L. Andrew, Ph.D.
Music: “Hands of Time” Instrumental Version by Narrow Skies from Artlist.io
Sound effects: Soundsnap
Transcript
This fabric coating could cool the wearer by almost 15 degrees Fahrenheit without using any energy, providing a simple source of relief on a hot summer day.
It’s made from durable and cheap materials. Researchers first laid down a thin layer of a polymer onto the fabric. Then they dipped it into chemical solutions, which grew into a reflective layer of calcium carbonate and barium sulfate crystals.
These crystals reflect visible light, as well as near-infrared and ultraviolet light from the sun while allowing body heat to escape. The treated fabric keeps a wearer up to 15 degrees cooler than untreated fabric, or 7 degrees cooler than ambient air. And it holds up to washing.
This research is being presented at ACS Fall 2024, a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
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