Smart cooling fabric lowers skin temperature without using any energy

A team of scientists has engineered a lightweight fabric that reflects nearly all incoming sunlight and moves sweat away from the skin, helping the body shed heat without fans, batteries, or gels.

The research was led by experts from the University of South Australia (UniSA) and Zhengzhou University.

In outdoor trials, material dropped skin temperature by about 3.6°F (2°C) in direct sun and up to 6.8°F (3.8°C) at night compared with bare skin. These numbers matter when heat stress pushes people toward the edge.

The fabric’s performance hinges on a simple recipe: a biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) fiber scaffold loaded with boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS).

Those nanosheets are excellent thermal conductors and strong mid-infrared emitters. Embedded throughout the fiber mat, they help the body’s own heat radiate outward while the white surface kicks back 96 percent of the sun’s rays.

Cotton, by contrast, absorbs more solar energy and holds on to moisture, trapping warmth next to the skin.

Cooling fabric without any power

The team framed the work as a response to growing heat exposure for outdoor workers, athletes, and people without reliable air conditioning.

“We’re seeing more frequent and intense heat waves globally, and that has serious implications for outdoor workers, athletes, and people living without access to air conditioning,” said co-author Jun Ma, a professor of materials science at Zhengzhou University.

“Our goal was to design a smart, sustainable fabric that passively regulates body temperature – not by using energy, but by harnessing natural physical processes.”

Electrospinning, a scalable technique already used in filtration and medical textiles, allows the researchers spin a PLA web while distributing BNNS throughout the fibers.

The result is a white, nanostructured sheet with high solar reflectance, strong emissivity in the body-heat band, and pore architecture that moves sweat vapor quickly.

Lab tests showed breathability roughly five times higher than cotton, which translates to faster drying and less stickiness during effort.

Cooling fabric powered by physics

Staying cool outdoors is a three-part problem: reflect sunlight, emit your own heat, and move moisture off the skin so evaporation can do its job. This composite fabric hits all three.

The white surface scatters visible and near-infrared light, cutting solar gain. The BNNS help radiate thermal energy in the mid-infrared “atmospheric window,” where heat can pass through the air to the cold sky. And the electrospun pores wick perspiration into airflow, sustaining evaporative cooling without feeling damp.

“The combination of high solar reflectance, heat radiation, and moisture control means that the wearer feels noticeably cooler and drier,” Ma said.

“It’s particularly beneficial for people who work outdoors in construction, mining, agriculture, or emergency services, where heat exposure is both a comfort and safety issue.”

Tested across real climates

To verify real-world gains, the researchers ran outdoor trials on the cooling fabric comparing the new textile with bare skin under midday sun and in nighttime conditions.

The skin-temperature reductions – about 3.6°F (2°C) in sunshine and about 6.8°F (3.8°C) after dark – align with what you’d expect when solar loading falls and radiative cooling dominates, especially in dry, clear air.

“UniSA’s advanced materials expertise helped us evaluate the heat transfer and radiative cooling properties of the fabric,” said study co-author Yamin Pan from Zhengzhou University.

“The partnership shows how international collaboration can accelerate the development of smart, sustainable materials.”

Designed with sustainability and scale

Beyond comfort, the material choices and manufacturing route aim for responsible deployment. PLA is derived from renewable feedstocks.

It is also biodegradable under industrial composting conditions, a step toward reducing the end-of-life burden of performance apparel.

Electrospinning lines can be scaled and tuned to produce continuous rolls. BNNS loadings are kept low to preserve softness and breathability while still delivering thermal benefits.

“The electrospinning process is straightforward and cost-effective, which means the fabric could be produced at an industrial scale,” Ma said. “With further development, it has the potential to transform the next generation of cooling clothing.”

First cooling applications for the fabric

The cooling is passive, and the hand feel is closer to a technical knit than a foil-like membrane.

With that combination, the team sees early applications in sportswear and in uniforms for outdoor labor, emergency response, and military training.

Designers can over-dye or layer the fabric’s white base when they need specific aesthetics or UV-blocking patterns, though darker colors may reduce reflectance.

Nighttime cooling performance also suggests potential for sleepwear and tents in hot climates where nocturnal heat remains a risk.

Next phase unfolding

The researchers are exploring industrial partners to translate the lab sheets into finished textiles, and they plan to test durability (wash cycles, abrasion), colorfastness, and long-term UV exposure.

They’re also evaluating blends and weaves that keep the radiative and wicking advantages while improving drape and stretch for everyday wear.

As global temperatures rise and heat waves become longer and more intense, advances like this highlight how smart materials can shave critical degrees off body heat – quietly, continuously, and without drawing a single watt.

The study is published in the journal Nano Research.

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