Scientists Successfully Create Special Fabric to Help Wearers Combat Rising Temperatures in Major Cities.
The Urban Heat Island Effect refers to the phenomenon where urban areas become significantly warmer than their surrounding rural areas.
A resident of Hanoi dressed heavily while out in the midday sun (Photo: Sơn Nguyễn).
The primary cause of this phenomenon is mainly due to the effective heat-retaining materials used in construction, such as asphalt, brick, and metal roofing. Additionally, the lack of open spaces and greenery to mitigate heat exacerbates the situation.
Recently, researchers from the University of Chicago have successfully developed a new material that can function like clothing fabric, which helps wearers in large urban areas feel up to 8.9°C cooler.
To achieve this, the research team utilized three distinct layers in the fabric. The inner layer is made from conventional clothing materials like wool or cotton. The middle layer consists of silver nanofibers that effectively reverse most radiation.
The outer layer is made from a plastic material called polymethylpentene. This material neither absorbs nor reflects most wavelengths but emits a range of infrared radiation.
This combination, based on the principle of radiative cooling, allows wearers to escape the effects of solar radiation, as well as infrared radiation from public structures such as buildings and sidewalks.
Po-Chun Hsu, the lead researcher, stated that in outdoor tests, this fabric is 8.9°C cooler than regular silk and 2.3°C cooler than materials that emit radiation over a broad spectrum.
When tested on skin, the fabric is approximately 1.8°C cooler than cotton.
Hsu noted that this small temperature difference could theoretically increase the duration a person can be exposed to high heat by up to 33%, although this has yet to be tested.
Nonetheless, he acknowledged that bringing this material into practical clothing products will face many challenges, especially regarding production costs.
However, a similar principle could be applied to the vertical surfaces of buildings to create a cooling effect over larger areas.
