Can You Cool Things Down with E-Textiles?

Jul 18

We know that passive smart textiles can provide cooling capabilities to textiles. These fabrics can either be treated with a polymer finish, or woven elements. However, what about textiles that contain electronic components? Can they keep a user cool and comfortable?

Current E-Textile Capabilities

E-textiles, including the LEL, can provide heating to soft goods products such as automotive interiors and wearable devices. E-textiles can also provide touch sensing and flexible lighting. The LEL, specifically, can combine all three functionalities to create a comprehensive system.

As for new advancements in e-textile design, there are new materials that incorporate innovative elements like photovoltaic cells (for solar applications), metallic coatings (for self-repairing fabrics), and triboelectric nanogenerators (for energy harvesting).

Cooling Technologies

To get to the real topic of this article: while our LEL does not possess cooling capabilities, you could—in theory—adhere a Peltier cooler to the LEL. However, we do not recommend doing this as it is impractical in practice. You could also pump cold water through tubes embedded in an e-textile, but mechanically, that can come with a whole slew of challenges. Especially, if you are looking for a flexible form factor in your material.

The Peltier concept has been explored by materials scientists at Soongsil University in Seoul, Korea. This “Peltier Effect” occurs when an electrical current flows through two dissimilar conductors. The junction of the conductors is absorbed, or heat is released. As mentioned previously, the practical nature of this technique is questionable and would likely never be used in commercial e-textile applications. The conducting polymer materials used to create this cooling effect are not suitable for soft goods. They are non-flexible, heavy, and a textile with this property would be difficult to manufacture.

One question we have been asked is: could you integrate a bunch of mini fans into an e-textile? Our answer? Probably not. This fan(s) would have to be very small, thin, and flexible. Wiring would need to be minimal as well, and the power source would need to be just as thin and flexible as the fan itself. You would also need a switch to turn the fan on and off. Unfortunately, there are just too many factors at play to make this a feasible (and comfortable) design.

If you haven’t seen much talk about cooling e-textiles, it is most likely because the technology is just not there yet. Also, the cost to produce these textiles would be so high. For such a risk-filled undertaking, most investors would be hesitant to fund such research. However, like most things, it is not an entirely impossible undertaking. In fact, we encourage students, materials scientists, and engineers to explore the possibilities. Everyone thought airplanes wouldn’t come to fruition, and look where they are now.

All inventions start with the ability to believe.