Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

An all-weather radiative human body cooling textile

Nature Sustainability volume 6, pages 1446–1454 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Radiative cooling textiles dissipate human body heat without any energy input, providing a sustainable means for personal thermal management. However, there is still a lack of textile materials to support efficient cooling in varied outdoor and indoor environments. Here we show a polyoxymethylene (POM) nanotextile design that not only achieves selective emission in the atmospheric window (8–13 μm) but also shows transmission in the remaining mid-infrared wavebands and reflection of sunlight (0.3–2.5 μm). As a result, the POM textile achieves efficient radiative human body cooling both outdoors (under sunny and cloudy conditions) and indoors (0.5–8.8 °C lower than typical textiles). Moreover, the textile design shows favourable wearability and outperforms its commercial counterparts when used as protective clothing. The POM material provides both indoor and outdoor human body cooling and introduces new possibilities in the rational design of next-generation smart textiles and other applications supporting sustainability.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Design and model calculations of a textile taking an adaptive radiative cooling mode.
Fig. 2: Design, preparation and spectral analysis of the POM textile.
Fig. 3: Human body cooling measurements of the POM textile, by comparing it with bare skin and skin covered by commercial cotton, transmission-type PE and emission-type PVDF.
Fig. 4: Wearability testing of the POM textile.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data are available in the main text or the supplementary materials. Source data are provided with this paper.

References

  1. Mitchard, E. T. A. The tropical forest carbon cycle and climate change. Nature 559, 527–534 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Office of Energy Saver. Heating and cooling US Department of Energy https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/heating-and-cooling

  3. Yin, X., Yang, R., Tan, G. & Fan, S. Terrestrial radiative cooling: using the cold universe as a renewable and sustainable energy source. Science 370, 786–791 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Munday, J. N. Tackling climate change through radiative cooling. Joule 3, 2057–2060 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Fan, S. & Li, W. Photonics and thermodynamics concepts in radiative cooling. Nat. Photonics 16, 182–190 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Peng, Y. & Cui, Y. Advanced textiles for personal thermal management and energy. Joule 4, 724–742 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Fang, Y., Chen, G., Bick, M. & Chen, J. Smart textiles for personalized thermoregulation. Chem. Soc. Rev. 50, 9357–9374 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hsu, P. C. et al. Radiative human body cooling by nanoporous polyethylene textile. Science 353, 1019–1023 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Cai, L. et al. Spectrally selective nanocomposite textile for outdoor personal cooling. Adv. Mater. 30, 1802152 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Peng, Y. et al. Nanoporous polyethylene microfibres for large-scale radiative cooling fabric. Nat. Sustain. 1, 105–112 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Leroy, A. et al. High-performance subambient radiative cooling enabled by optically selective and thermally insulating polyethylene aerogel. Sci. Adv. 5, eaat9480 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hsu, P. C. & Li, X. Q. Photon-engineered radiative cooling textiles. Science 370, 784–785 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kim, G., Park, K., Hwang, K. J. & Jin, S. Highly sunlight reflective and infrared semi-transparent nanomesh textiles. ACS Nano 15, 15962–15971 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Zeng, S. et al. Hierarchical-morphology metafabric for scalable passive daytime radiative cooling. Science 373, 692–696 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhu, B. et al. Subambient daytime radiative cooling textile based on nanoprocessed silk. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 1342–1348 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Cai, L. L. et al. Temperature regulation in colored infrared-transparent polyethylene textiles. Joule 3, 1478–1486 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Alberghini, M. et al. Sustainable polyethylene fabrics with engineered moisture transport for passive cooling. Nat. Sustain. 4, 715–724 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Iqbal, M. I. et al. Radiative cooling nanofabric for personal thermal management. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14, 23577–23587 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Song, Y. N., Lei, M. Q., Lei, J. & Li, Z. M. Spectrally selective polyvinylidene fluoride textile for passive human body cooling. Mater. Today Energy 18, 100504 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kim, G. et al. Black textile with bottom metallized surface having enhanced radiative cooling under solar irradiation. Nano Energy 82, 105715 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Chen, Z., Zhu, L., Li, W. & Fan, S. Simultaneously and synergistically harvest energy from the sun and outer space. Joule 3, 101–110 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Raman, A. P., Anoma, M. A., Zhu, L., Rephaeli, E. & Fan, S. Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight. Nature 515, 540–544 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Shi, N. N. et al. Keeping cool: enhanced optical reflection and radiative heat dissipation in Saharan silver ants. Science 349, 298–301 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Chen, Z., Zhu, L., Raman, A. & Fan, S. Radiative cooling to deep sub-freezing temperatures through a 24–h day-night cycle. Nat. Commun. 7, 13729 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Zhai, Y. et al. Scalable-manufactured randomized glass-polymer hybrid metamaterial for daytime radiative cooling. Science 355, 1062–1066 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Mandal, J. et al. Hierarchically porous polymer coatings for highly efficient passive daytime radiative cooling. Science 362, 315–318 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Bhatia, B. et al. Passive directional sub-ambient daytime radiative cooling. Nat. Commun. 9, 5001 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Li, T. et al. A radiative cooling structural material. Science 364, 760–763 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Goldstein, E. A., Raman, A. P. & Fan, S. H. Sub-ambient non-evaporative fluid cooling with the sky. Nat. Energy 2, 17143 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Chen, Y. et al. Colored and paintable bilayer coatings with high solar-infrared reflectance for efficient cooling. Sci. Adv. 6, eaaz5413 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Wang, T. et al. A structural polymer for highly efficient all-day passive radiative cooling. Nat. Commun. 12, 365 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Zhou, Y. et al. A polydimethylsiloxane-coated metal structure for all-day radiative cooling. Nat. Sustain. 2, 718–724 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Li, D. et al. Scalable and hierarchically designed polymer film as a selective thermal emitter for high-performance all-day radiative cooling. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 153–158 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Jeng, H. A. & Swanson, J. Toxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles in mammalian cells. J. Environ. Sci. Health A 41, 2699–2711 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Lin, W. S. et al. Toxicity of nano- and micro-sized ZnO particles in human lung epithelial cells. J. Nanopart. Res. 11, 25–39 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Keerthana, S. & Kumar, A. Potential risks and benefits of zinc oxide nanoparticles: a systematic review. Crit. Rev. Toxicol. 50, 47–71 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Han, D., Ng, B. F. & Wan, M. P. Preliminary study of passive radiative cooling under Singapore’s tropical climate. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cell 206, 110270 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Godbole, R. V. Destabilization of clouds by radiative cooling. Mon. Weather Rev. 101, 496–500 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Huang, J. Y., Lin, C. J., Li, Y. & Huang, B. L. Effects of humidity, aerosol, and cloud on subambient radiative cooling. Int. J. Heat Mass Tran. 186, 122438 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Aili, A. et al. Selection of polymers with functional groups for daytime radiative cooling. Mater. Today Phys. 10, 100127 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Kennedy, E. R. & Ashley, K. Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry attenuated total reflectance study of the reaction of pentanal and propanal with 2-(hydroxymethyl)piperidine. Appl. Spectrosc. 46, 266–272 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Bognitzki, M. et al. Nanostructured fibers via electrospinning. Adv. Mater. 13, 70–72 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Kongkhlang, T. et al. Electrospun polyoxymethylene: spinning conditions and its consequent nanoporous nanofiber. Macromolecules 41, 4746–4752 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Hoyt, T., Arens, E. & Zhang, H. Extending air temperature setpoints: simulated energy savings and design considerations for new and retrofit buildings. Build. Environ. 88, 89–96 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Hoyt, T., Lee, K. H., Zhang, H., Arens, E. & Webster, T. Energy savings from extended air temperature setpoints and reductions in room air mixing. In Proc. 13th International Conference on Environmental Ergonomics (The Univ. Wollongong, 2009).

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFA0210702, 2020YFC2201103) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22075163, 51872156).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Xueke Wu, Jinlei Li.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Xueke Wu, Qinyuan Jiang, Wenshuo Zhang, Baoshun Wang, Run Li, Siming Zhao, Fei Wang, Ya Huang, Pei Lyu, Yanlong Zhao & Rufan Zhang

  2. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Jinlei Li & Jia Zhu

Authors
  1. Xueke Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jinlei Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Qinyuan Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Wenshuo Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Baoshun Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Run Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Siming Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Fei Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Ya Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Pei Lyu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Yanlong Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Jia Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Rufan Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

R.Z., X.W., J.Z. and J.L. conceived the idea. X.W. and J.L. designed the models and experiments. X.W. and J.L. performed the material preparation and characterization with the help of Q.J., W.Z., B.W., R.L., S.Z., F.W., Y.H., Y.Z. and P.L.; X.W. and Q.J. performed the modelling work. X.W. wrote the paper. R.Z. supervised the project. All the authors provided discussion and comments.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jia Zhu or Rufan Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Sustainability thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Texts 1–13, Supplementary Figs. 1–49 and Supplementary Tables 1–3.

Reporting Summary

Supplementary Video 1

Process of qualitative test of air permeability with the SET-type POM sandwiched between air (upper) and water (lower).

Supplementary Video 2

Result of permeability test of the SET-type POM. The continuous bubble transmittance and effective isolation of water and air shows the remarkable breathability and high waterproofness of our POM textile.

Supplementary Video 3

Sunny outdoor infrared video of human body wearing POM-based protective clothing tested in Beijing, China (40°0′33″ N, 116°20′0.6″ E, 16 May 2022).

Supplementary Video 4

Cloudy outdoor infrared video of human body wearing POM-based protective clothing tested in Beijing (17 May 2022).

Supplementary Video 5

Indoor infrared video of human body wearing POM-based protective clothing tested in Beijing (17 May 2022).

Supplementary Video 6

Sunny outdoor infrared video with another large-size POM-based protective clothing (Beijing, 7 October 2022).

Supplementary Video 7

Cloudy outdoor infrared video with another large-size POM-based protective clothing (Beijing, 9 October 2022).

Supplementary Video 8

Indoor infrared video with another large-size POM-based protective clothing (Beijing, 6 October 2022).

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Simulated data for the skin surface temperatures of different RC textile models.

Source Data Fig. 2

Diameter size distribution and spectral response data for POM textile.

Source Data Fig. 3

Statistical source data for thermal measurements.

Source Data Fig. 4

Statistical source data for POM-based protective clothing.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wu, X., Li, J., Jiang, Q. et al. An all-weather radiative human body cooling textile. Nat Sustain 6, 1446–1454 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01200-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01200-x

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing