Researchers from Stanford University have created a new type of plastic clothing that can keep its wearer as much as 4 degrees Celsius cooler when compared to traditional clothes. Rather than focusing on clothing design to engendered this temperature drop, the researchers created a new type of textile out of nanoporous polyethylene.
According to Yi Cui, the lead researcher, the plastic clothing cools through a dual process. First, like most other clothing, it allow perspiration to evaporate through the material. Second, its nanoporous structure lets the infrared radiation that bodies emit pass through the material, further reducing body heat. This second point is what makes the Stanford plastic clothing unique.
The researchers believe that their clothing innovation could ultimately save energy, because cooler bodies mean less air conditioning.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Nanoporous Clothing
- Innovation opportunity for textile and apparel industry to create clothing that can keep people cooler in hot climates and reduce energy consumption associated with air conditioning.
- Infrared Radiation Tech
- Innovation opportunity for materials science and engineering to research and develop materials that can block infrared radiation from body, and apply them in different fields.
- Sustainable Fashion
- Innovation opportunity for the fashion industry to create sustainable clothes that consume less energy and are more eco-friendly by using nanoporous plastic instead of traditional textiles.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Textile and Apparel
- Industry opportunity to shift to more energy-efficient textile production and sustainable clothing designs.
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Industry opportunity to research and develop materials that can block or conduct infrared radiation, with applications in healthcare, electronics, and energy.
- Fashion
- Industry opportunity to develop and promote sustainable, environmentally-friendly fashion that can help reduce energy consumption and combat climate change.
