Preliminary study of textile structures regarding their photonic radiative cooling properties

Preliminary study of textile structures regarding their photonic radiative cooling properties | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Preliminary study of textile structures regarding their photonic radiative cooling properties Joseph Lejeune, Mathys Mulot--Hauriez, Philippe Vroman This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7992868/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Heat waves are becoming increasingly frequent worldwide and are expected to grow more intense and hazardous to human health. Among the simplest and most sustainable mitigation strategies are radiative cooling textile fabrics. This study explores the passive radiative cooling potential of various textile materials as a means to enhance thermal comfort during heat waves. A series of eleven fabrics, including woven, knitted, and nonwoven structures made from polyester, cotton, flax, and specialty fibres, were assessed without coatings or chemical additives. Key structural factors such as fibre diameter, basis weight, porosity, colour lightness, and air permeability were evaluated. Near-infrared (NIR) reflectivity was measured using spectroscopy, and a simulated solar irradiation bench characterized fabric thermal behaviour. Results show that colour lightness strongly influences NIR reflectivity, with lighter fabrics exhibiting higher reflectance. Microfibres (< 10 µm) and specialty pie-wedge fibres demonstrated enhanced reflectivity, reaching up to ~ 65%, whereas darker and coarse-fibre fabrics performed significantly lower. Air permeability was inversely correlated with reflectivity, particularly in nonwoven samples. Infrared exposure tests indicated that higher NIR reflectivity generally reduced sub-fabric temperature, supporting its relevance for summer garments. Natural flax fabrics also showed promising protective performance despite lower optical uniformity. Overall, the work highlights the importance of structural textile parameters for radiative cooling performance and provides a foundation for future biomimetic, chemical-free design approaches for heat-protective clothing. textile material radiative cooling photonic structure near infrared reflectivity Biomimetic design Heat protection Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7992868","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":582013971,"identity":"12effaef-62cc-432c-b1e7-a4fcf5d712f5","order_by":0,"name":"Joseph Lejeune","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABD0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYIIcPAcADEtwGLAplyBLXwQLWkQbQcYDAmaBUPlHmYAWoNbi3M7e0PHxfuYODhZzx8TLqg4rycOf/hh4c/MBjk47Sg54yx8cwzDDySDcfSpGecuW1sOSPNAOgwA8sGXFpm5LBJ87Yx8BgcOGMGZNxO3HCDAaTljwFOW2akP/8N0mJ/4Pw3ad5/5+o3nD/+AWQLHi0JZsxgWxjOAK1rOJBgcCDHAL8WoF+kZ7ZJ8EgcOGZszXMs2XDDjZyCA2cMcGsxBIbY58I2Gzn+GYcf3uapsZM3OH9884eKCjxaGoABzcAgAUQHkMVxamBgkGcAawEC/gbcqkbBKBgFo2BkAwBUV1qnM5mbsAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joseph","middleName":"","lastName":"Lejeune","suffix":""},{"id":582013972,"identity":"fd380bb8-de85-4956-8d7a-a46746c63ad8","order_by":1,"name":"Mathys Mulot--Hauriez","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mathys","middleName":"","lastName":"Mulot--Hauriez","suffix":""},{"id":582013973,"identity":"86c92cc4-f242-4e79-bafd-698bda4ace47","order_by":2,"name":"Philippe Vroman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Philippe","middleName":"","lastName":"Vroman","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-10-30 22:23:22","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7992868/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7992868/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101752408,"identity":"5c4b787f-7bc7-42a0-9816-bb359c94fd4a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-03 10:27:19","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":828369,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"20251108MulotLejeuneVromanJTAC.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7992868/v1_covered_a558adc3-2314-4ba3-9f57-d1e666cf39fe.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Preliminary study of textile structures regarding their photonic radiative cooling properties","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"textile material, radiative cooling, photonic structure, near infrared, reflectivity, Biomimetic design, Heat protection","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7992868/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7992868/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eHeat waves are becoming increasingly frequent worldwide and are expected to grow more intense and hazardous to human health. Among the simplest and most sustainable mitigation strategies are radiative cooling textile fabrics. This study explores the passive radiative cooling potential of various textile materials as a means to enhance thermal comfort during heat waves. A series of eleven fabrics, including woven, knitted, and nonwoven structures made from polyester, cotton, flax, and specialty fibres, were assessed without coatings or chemical additives. Key structural factors such as fibre diameter, basis weight, porosity, colour lightness, and air permeability were evaluated. Near-infrared (NIR) reflectivity was measured using spectroscopy, and a simulated solar irradiation bench characterized fabric thermal behaviour. Results show that colour lightness strongly influences NIR reflectivity, with lighter fabrics exhibiting higher reflectance. Microfibres (\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;10 \u0026micro;m) and specialty pie-wedge fibres demonstrated enhanced reflectivity, reaching up to ~\u0026thinsp;65%, whereas darker and coarse-fibre fabrics performed significantly lower. Air permeability was inversely correlated with reflectivity, particularly in nonwoven samples. Infrared exposure tests indicated that higher NIR reflectivity generally reduced sub-fabric temperature, supporting its relevance for summer garments. Natural flax fabrics also showed promising protective performance despite lower optical uniformity. 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