Graphene, self-heating... Are you confused about the "black technology" of thermal clothing?

Aerogel, volcanic rocks, graphene, self-heating...

The "black technology" of thermal clothing, are you confused?

Experts remind that there is no shortage of exaggerations in the new concept of warmth, and consumers should be rational when choosing

Reporter Jin Meng

Aerogel cold-resistant clothing, volcanic rock warm cotton, infrared heat storage, air temperature locking... With the advent of winter, warm products are beginning to attract attention again. But when it comes to choosing warm clothes, you may also be dazzled by these "high-tech" concepts.

When the new winter warmth product integrates scientific and technological elements, is it a real scientific and technological innovation, or an "IQ tax" trap? Can a winter coat that doesn't look thick really "lock in the heat"? Is there a scientific basis for the "scientific warmth" advertised by the merchants? In the face of fancy publicity, how can consumers choose the right winter equipment without stepping on the thunder? Experts told reporters that new technologies are indeed warmer, but businesses often over-publicize, and consumers should keep their eyes open when buying.

Aerogel cold-resistant clothing

Black technology or "IQ tax"?

"We use the core thermal insulation material of the spacesuit - aerogel, which is a new black technology, and its heating capacity is twice that of ordinary cotton clothing..."

Open a live broadcast room that sells winter clothes, and you will most likely hear some words with black technology. Recently, some cutting-edge brands have begun to launch "aerogel cold-resistant clothing", which claims to have a lighter and warmer effect than down jackets.

Actually, aerogel is not a new concept. It refers to a nano-scale porous solid material formed by replacing the liquid in the gel with gas through a certain drying method, which is the solid material with the lowest thermal conductivity and lowest density known at present, and has been used in aerospace and military industry, petrochemical and other fields in the past, and has been used by NASA to isolate spacesuits.

With the iteration of technology and industrial leap, aerogel has also begun to be applied to clothing materials in recent years, and a kind of aerogel composite material is formed by adding fiber reinforced materials. So can it really bring a better warmth and cold resistance?

Ms. Chen from Hangzhou told reporters that she had bought an aerogel jacket with a thickness of 3mm, and after experiencing it firsthand, the warmth effect was very good. "When the zipper is closed, the thermometer inside shows 28 degrees, and it's even a little hot."

However, the reporter found that in some online stores that sell aerogel clothes, there is no shortage of consumer complaints: "The warmth effect is no different from ordinary clothes", "It's really not warm, it seems to be an IQ tax"...

Consumers have mixed reviews, perhaps because the technology of aerogel used in clothing materials is not mature enough.

"In principle, aerogel is achievable for warmth, and the future development prospects are good." Li Zhaoling, a researcher and doctoral supervisor of the School of Textiles of Donghua University, told the Qian Daily reporter that at present, the cost of aerogel is high, and most of them are not washable and fragile, and usually need to be used in combination with other fiber materials, so there are still many problems to be solved.

At present, there is no national standard for the use of aerogel in the field of clothing. "The filling ratio and thickness of aerogel, what materials are compounded, structural design, etc., will affect its warmth effect, and there are also good and bad aerogel clothing on the market." Li Zhaoling said.

The new concept of warmth is not much exaggerated

"Air temperature locking", "warm black technology", "graphene self-heating"... As the end of the year approaches, all kinds of warm words that sound "high" are beginning to occupy a prominent position in major stores and online shopping malls.

On an e-commerce platform, a thermal vest claimed to have added graphene, priced at 39.9 yuan, and the sales volume has reached 89,1 pieces, and another graphene warm pants has also sold 36,9 pieces. According to the merchant on the details page, this warm pants heat up in 3 seconds, one top three...

Is it really that magical? Li Zhaoling told reporters that some new technologies and new fabrics can indeed bring better warmth effects, but many times businesses may exaggerate the publicity and use the new concept as a gimmick to market.

Taking graphene as an example, it is a new material made of carbon atoms connected by a special structure, which has excellent thermal conductivity, but graphene itself does not generate heat.

"The decisive role is still the material of the clothes, such as the filling amount of down jackets, etc., graphene can only play a role in assisting warmth, and it is very limited, at most it can only help to warm up 1-2 °C, and sometimes the psychological effect of consumers may be greater." Li Zhaoling said.

Mr. Zheng, who has been engaged in the textile industry for 16 years, told reporters that many new concepts such as "heating technology" on the market are just new terms discovered by businesses.

How to choose a variety of warm supplies?

Search for keywords such as "warm clothes" and "down jackets" on the e-commerce platform, and tens of thousands of product categories will pop up; Walking into a store, there may be ten kinds of autumn clothes and pants alone. Some netizens exclaimed: "It's so difficult to survive the winter!" "Faced with a wide variety of clothes, how should we choose? Experts and industry insiders in the textile field give some advice.

One is to put aside the advertising slogan and look at the ingredient label first. "Generally speaking, the content of the composition is accurate to one decimal place, which is more reliable, and the fabric composition test is rarely exactly the whole percentage." Mr. Zheng said.

In addition, underwear should avoid choosing high polyester (polyester) content, because polyester is not breathable, does not absorb sweat, and has a strong feeling of stuffiness.

For warm pants, Mr. Zheng believes that those who pursue cost-effectiveness can choose De Rong, which has a good warmth effect, and has a high firmness and is more durable; If you want to fit more comfortably, you can choose blended fabrics containing wool and cashmere; If you want to be warm and not bulky, you can choose a high-count yarn product.

Li Zhaoling said that consumers can choose according to their own wearing scene. For example, for consumers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions who mainly work indoors, natural cotton warm clothes are more comfortable and breathable to wear, and aerogel cold-resistant clothes are not needed in daily life.

Second, look at the price. If an item of clothing sells for significantly less than the market price, you need to be a little more cautious.

Taking woolen clothing as an example, Mr. Zheng said that a thin set of all-wool thermal underwear will cost about 100 yuan when it comes off the machine, and the general price is greater than 200 yuan if it is lower than this price. "Some of them are discounted wool content, and some may be overstocked of goods, and some of them may be affected in terms of warmth and quality due to some exceeding the warranty period."

The third is the try-on experience. To get a more intuitive feel for warmth, consumers may wish to try it on outdoors.

The most important thing is that consumers should remain rational, especially when shopping online in the live broadcast room, and not be "fooled" by the exaggerated words of some merchants. "Some warm clothing requires a professional preparation process, even if the raw material composition is the same, but different processes will bring different wearing feelings, which is difficult to reflect in pictures or videos, consumers can try to find brands or old stores, relatively speaking, the reliability is higher." Mr. Zheng said.