This project aims to design and test special cooling fabrics that help people stay safer and more comfortable during extreme heat.
Rising global temperatures and more frequent heatwaves pose growing health risks, especially for vulnerable populations and those without access to air conditioning. Radiative cooling textiles offer a promising passive cooling strategy by reflecting sunlight and emitting heat as infrared radiation without using electricity. However, most studies focus on material performance and do not directly evaluate how these textiles affect human thermal comfort and physiological strain. This project integrates materials science and human physiology to develop and evaluate radiative cooling textiles under realistic heat conditions. First, cooling fabrics will be fabricated using electrospinning techniques to achieve high solar reflectivity and strong infrared emissivity. Their thermal performance will be characterized using spectroscopy and infrared imaging, and pigment particles will be explored to create visually appealing, heat-reducing textiles. Next, environmental chambers will be upgraded to simulate realistic solar radiation and outdoor heat loads. Finally, controlled human subject experiments will assess how these textiles influence core body temperature and heat strain under simulated heat stress. By linking textile performance with human physiological responses, this project will provide evidence-based guidance on the effectiveness of radiative cooling fabrics for improving thermal resilience during extreme heat.
