materialverse

We had a really fun snow day in Bear Valley with family and friends a couple of weeks ago.

A big part of playing in snow is to dress appropriately and a big part of dressing appropriately is wearing snow pants. So that got me thinking about what magic ingredients in them made me feel so comfortable and stay so dry even after a day spent rolling, sliding, biking and tubing in the snow.

• The Requirements
  • The basic problem in cold weather is that heat from the body radiates away into the surrounding air, a law of nature explained in the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This is bad because the organs in our bodies can only function optimally in a narrow temperature range (97°F-99°F). Snow clothing needs to act as a barrier between the skin and the cold air outside and prevent heat loss. So what do we want in snow pants?Thick layers (insulation), moisture-proof (warm and dry) and most importantly, stylish to look at!
• The Candidates
  • While wool remains one of the best natural insulators known to humans, economics often requires more affordable alternatives thus many snow pants use synthetic materials instead:
    • Nylon: made up of NH-C-O atoms in a linear chain and the presence of Nitrogen makes the inter-molecular bonds in the chain strong, thus making the material flexible and strong (durable).
    • Polyester: made up of C,H,O atoms but arranged in rings that are non-polar (electrically neutral) so water molecules prefer to bond with each other than with polyester molecules, making the material naturally hydrophobic.
  • Here is a great video explaining these differences : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_qBEY8Dry8
• The Winning Formula
  • It is clear then, that polyester is a key material in making snow pants water-proof. In fact, specialized polyester material called coolmax can be used to make moisture management even more sophisticated. Finally, snow pants are usually a mix of 90% polyester and 10% spandex, another synthetic material that makes the pant material elastic and stretchable (think comfort fit!)
• The Future
  • The biggest issue with synthetic materials such as nylon and polyester is that they are non-biodegradable. At the most basic level, they are plastics and contribute to landfill waste. Also, washing them can release microplastics which are extremely dangerous when they enter the food chain. So I want the future snow pant to be chemical free, have a better environmental footprint and still look and feel very stylish!