Engineering biomimetic cellulose fabric for sustainably and durably cooling human body

It is essential and challenging to develop sustainable and durable passive radiative cooling materials for longterm effectively maintaining human thermal comfort when undergoing intensified global warming in our lowcarbon society. Herein, inspired by the distinct structure-property relationship of fruits-branches in fruiter, this work designs an approach of fibrillation of cellulosic fibers (branches of fruiter) followed by in-situ synthesis of SiO2 nanoparticles (fruits of fruiter) easily to prepare sustainable, robust, customizable, and scalable cooling cellulose fabric. Such coupling strategy of cellulosic-fiber fibrillation and SiO2 in-situ growth strongly roughens cellulose fabric, more specifically, sufficient micro- and nano-sized cellulose fibrils and SiO2 particles, which enables our cooling cellulose fabric to effectively reflect solar light with 97% reflectance (0.4-1.0 mu m) and emit mid-infrared light with 0.97 emissivity (8-13 mu m). As a result, the developed cooing cellulose fabric spontaneously cools the human body with a temperature drop of 7.4 degrees C in high-temperature summer. It should be noted that the developed strategy realizes extraordinary adhesion performance between nanosized SiO2 and fibrillated cellulosic fibers, endowing cooling cellulose fabric with durable yet effective cooling distinction despite enduring 100-time mechanical washing and 100-day exposure to air, as well as high strength (-48 MPa), desirable moisture evaporation rate and breathability. The present work demonstrates a promising strategy how durability, functionality, and customizability can be integrated in future material design.

Automated summary

This study presents a new method to prepare sustainable, robust, customizable, and scalable cooling cellulose fabric through the fibrillation of cellulosic fibers and in-situ synthesis of SiO2 nanoparticles. The developed fabric reflects solar light effectively and emits mid-infrared light, leading to a significant cooling effect on the human body in high-temperature summer. Furthermore, this fabric demonstrates durable and effective cooling performance after enduring mechanical washing and exposure to air.