Polar bears are well known for being able to survive in harsh and exceptionally cold climates. How they do so, however, used to be something of a mystery. Especially considering that polar bear fur is white (and we would expect that darker colored or black fur might better hold onto sunlight and create heat), polar bear fur has unique characteristics that, if replicable, could offer fodder for new textiles to keep humans warm.
A team of researchers have taken inspiration from polar bears and developed a new fabric that utilizes the heat-capturing features of polar bear fur, an effort that has been years in the making. The new fabric, which is lighter and warmer than normal cotton materials, is described in a recent article published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
The idea for the fabric was drawn from a unique interplay between polar bear fur and their skin. While we might assume that black fur might better capture and retain heat, researchers have seen in the past that a polar bear’s iconic white fur actually does an exceptional job of acting as a conduit, or a fiberoptic, channel heat down towards the polar bears black skin and warming the body. Once the heat is there, the fur is able to keep it trapped.
Researchers took this basic concept and created a material with two key layers. The first layer is a layer of fabric and threads that work like polar bear fur: they help guide light down to a lower, black, nylon layer that is covered in a polymer called PEDOT. When exposed to sunlight, the material worn as a jacket could keep someone warmer than a traditional jacket, in temperatures 10 degrees Celsius colder than a cotton jacket could.
The team speculates that while the material is best used in a bright and sunny environment, it may have potential in lit indoor environments, which could help reduce heating costs and the use of fossil fuels.
This research was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation.
Sources: Science Daily; ACS Applied Materials
