The human body absorbs and loses heat largely through infrared radiation centering around a wavelength of 10 micrometers. However, neither our skin nor the textiles that make up clothing are capable of dynamically controlling this optical channel for thermal management. By coating triacetate-cellulose bimorph fibers with a thin layer of carbon nanotubes, we effectively modulated the infrared radiation by more than 35% as the relative humidity of the underlying skin changed. Both experiments and modeling suggest that this dynamic infrared gating effect mainly arises from distance-dependent electromagnetic coupling between neighboring coated fibers in the textile yarns. This effect opens a pathway for developing wearable localized thermal management systems that are autonomous and self-powered, as well as expanding our ability to adapt to demanding environments.

We combine two amazing abilities found in nature: the superhydrophobic property of lotus leaf and the adhesive ability of mussel adhesive protein. The molecular structure mimic of the single units of adhesive proteins, dopamine, was polymerized in an alkaline aqueous solution to encapsulate microparticles. The as-formed thin polydopamine walls worked as reactive templates to generate silver nanoparticles on the capsuled particles. As a result, core/shell/satellite composite particles were generated with a hierarchical structure similar to the micromorphology of lotus leaf. The composite particles exhibited extremely water repellence after fluorination. Because dopamine can deposit and adhere to all kinds of materials, this method can be applied to diverse microparticles, from organic to inorganic. In addition, particles of different sizes and matters can be modified to superhydrophobic particles in one pot. Magnetic particles have also been prepared which could be used as oil-absorbent and magnetic controlled carriers. "Oil marbles" formed underwater were achieved for the first time.