Large-Scale Nanofiber Manufacturing| Highly Integrated Phase change and Radiative Cooling FiberMembrane for Adaptive Personal Thermal Regulation

Prof. Dazhu Chen (Shenzhen University): Highly Integrated Phase-Change Radiative Cooling Fiber Membrane for Adaptive Personal Thermal Regulation

Challenge: Practical deployment of radiative cooling materials (RCMs) faces environmental limitations including heat accumulation, convective heat transfer, and significant diurnal temperature variations. These challenges may compromise cooling efficiency, potentially causing overcooling or overheating under specific climatic conditions.

Approach: Prof. Dazhu Chen and Assoc. Prof. Xing Ouyang developed a radiative cooling-phase change (RC-PC) fiber membrane via coaxial electrospinning, presenting an innovative solution for personal thermal management.

Innovation 1: The fiber membrane demonstrates exceptional optical properties with 95.0% solar reflectivity and 88.6% emissivity within the atmospheric window, effectively minimizing environmental heat absorption.

Innovation 2: Octadecane-infused fibers exhibit a phase change enthalpy of 88.3 J/g, reducing heating rates while improving cooling temperature by ≈1°C at dawn. Under standard solar radiation (939.5 W/m²), the membranes provide average cooling power of 89.0 W/m² (peak: 95.3 W/m²).

Innovation 3: Achieving 5.1°C temperature reduction at 550.2 W/m², the membranes maintain significantly lower temperatures than conventional fabrics, showing a 4.4°C differential compared to medical protective clothing.