HKRITA develops polyester fibre with cooling effect
03/02/2026
The research centre pointed out that polyethylene is one of the few textile fibres that can create a cooling effect. This is due to its transparency to thermal radiation in the mid-infrared (MIR) range. This property allows a garment made from polyethylene to release body heat effectively. However, the polymer is not so common in apparel due to textile processing drawbacks, such as its low melting point, poor mechanical strength and flammability. These, it said, “limit its use in garments that must withstand daily wear and environmental stress”.
The research institutes chose to investigate a method to endow polyester, ubiquitous in performance clothing, with cooling properties. The solution they found is to incorporate “inorganic oxide particles” into the fibres in a specially designed fibre-particle matrix. This “enhances the fibres’ capacity to scatter and reflect sunlight in the visible and infrared ranges”.
In laboratory tests using solar simulators, fabrics made from the tweaked polyester fibres were found to lower surface temperatures by approximately 3.7°C compared to standard polyester fabrics.
This project won a Bronze Medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2025.
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