Cool, power, move: A printable textile that does it all

A new printable textile combines passive cooling with biomechanical energy harvesting to enable motion-controlled, adaptive thermal management. Led by researchers in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the textile uses passive radiative cooling to stay cool under sunlight by reflecting solar energy while releasing heat to the surroundings. At the same time, it can harvest energy from human motion and generate electrical signals for sensing and thermal control.