New Delhi: A new purple cooling fabric, developed by Chinese and Australian researchers, is set to be the new white during the summer season.
Most passive cooling fabrics are white because they reflect sunlight. Purple is particularly difficult to cool because the colour absorbs green light, which makes up a significant part of solar radiation. However, this new purple fabric is expected to change the game.
Outdoor tests found that the new fabric was around 2°C cooler than both commercial white cotton and conventionally dyed purple cotton when exposed to direct sunlight.
The fabric was reportedly found to be up to 6.2°C cooler than conventional purple cotton under direct sunlight. In tests using simulated skin, it reduced temperatures by as much as 8°C, compared with 4.6°C for white cotton and 2.8°C for regular purple cotton.
It is also lightweight, flexible and breathable, allowing sweat and water vapour to pass through. The fabric remained effective after 50 washing cycles and showed strong resistance to UV exposure.
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Colour, comfort and cooling
The technology, developed by researchers from Zhengzhou University and Adelaide University, could eventually be used to make cooling clothes for outdoor workers, athletes and anyone exposed to extreme heat.
The researchers have used microscopic fibres containing a purple material called a metal-organic framework (MOF), along with zinc oxide nanoparticles. Together, they give the fabric its purple appearance while helping it reflect sunlight and release heat.
The fabric reflects an average of 87.6 per cent of solar radiation and emits 96.4 per cent of mid-infrared radiation, allowing heat to escape through the atmosphere.
The researchers also found that the fabric retained its cooling and optical properties after high-intensity UV testing equivalent to about 108 days outdoors.
Yangzhe Hou, a PhD candidate at Adelaide University and co-author of the study, said the technology could eventually help people manage body temperature without using additional energy.
“For outdoor workers, athletes and anyone exposed to hot weather, staying cool is not just about comfort. We are interested in developing fabrics that can help manage body temperature without consuming additional energy,” Hou said.
The researchers believe the same approach could be adapted to create cooling fabrics in other colours.
“The long-term opportunity is to move beyond the idea that cooling fabrics have to be white. However, there is enormous potential to combine colour, comfort and cooling performance in the next generation of textiles,” Hou added.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)