Innovative Fabric Technology: Cooling and Warming Textile in One

Tired of wearing layers and layers of clothing in the winters to keep the cold out? You might be able to cut down on the layers to just two as this new double-sided material lets you keep the body temperature you are comfortable with.

The clothing that lets you regulate heat is not only convenient but is good for the environment as well. You can use your own body heat to stay warm or cool down and won’t have to spend extra amounts of energy on appliances to achieve the same effect.

A group of scientists at the Stanford University has developed a material that controls the amount of heat lost depending on how you wear the material. Even though it has only been just developed, it has huge potential to make an impact on the clothing industry as well as wearable electronics.

The new material is made of plastic (a form of polyethylene), carbon and copper. The carbon coated layer is on the outside when you are trying to cool down and the heat radiates out, producing a cooling effect. When it gets cold outside, you turn the material inside out and copper coated side on the outside helps keep the heat in by creating an insulating effect and warms you up in an instant. The double-sided material can expand the range of comfortable temperatures by 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which is quite a large temperature range.

The high-emissivity layer (left) made of carbon-coated nanoporous polyethylene. The scanning electron microscope image of the carbon coating reveals its rough and porous structure, which is advantageous for increasing the emissivity (right)