Double Graphene Puffer

Inspired by the isolation of graphene in 2004… and the invention of the Double Cheeseburger in 1937, the Double Graphene Puffer is engineered with ‘double graphene’ thanks to an ultra lightweight graphene shell on the outside, and graphene insulation on the inside.

While it’s invisible to the human eye and only a single atom thick, graphene is the lightest, strongest, most conductive material ever discovered. The existence of graphene as a supermaterial was first theorised in the 1940s, but it wasn’t until 2004 that two maverick scientists at the University of Manchester – Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov – were able to isolate and test it. They peeled layer after layer off a shaving of graphite using Scotch tape until they produced a sample of graphene just one atom thick. In 2010 their work won them the Nobel Prize. And thanks to their pioneering work we’ve been creating our own world firsts with graphene since 2018.

Every Double Graphene Puffer is built with an ultralight weather resistant outer shell with a graphene core, and recycled synthetic insulation infused with graphene nanoparticles. And because graphene conducts heat better than any material on Earth, it means the jacket can store and redistribute warmth, reduce humidity next to your body, and help regulate your temperature. 

In 2018, we built the world’s first graphene jacket. An experimental prototype, it was a reversible jacket with one side coated in graphene and the other side not – so you could literally carry out your own experiments while wearing it. We then spent 3 years working with the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester creating the world’s first Thermal Camouflage Jacket – a computer-programmable jacket built with hundreds of layers of graphene that was designed to bring us one step closer to an invisibility cloak. Then in 2024 we created the first ‘double graphene’ puffer.

The outer shell of the Double Graphene Puffer is made from an ultra lightweight, three layered material constructed with a graphene core. After creating tiny stacks of graphene mechanically – which means using zero chemicals or solvents – we blend them with polyurethane to create an ultrathin graphene membrane. We then sandwich this between two layers of super thin nylon mesh, before laminating the three layers together to create a single ultralight fabric. This mesh then makes the graphene visible from the outside – which is why the jacket is gunmetal grey.

It’s not just the outside of the puffer that’s built with graphene. We also infuse the insulation with graphene – and it’s all thanks to the work of physicists at the Max Planck Institute. In 2014 they revealed that graphene challenges the fundamental laws of heat conduction. While the amount of heat a material can conduct was believed to stay constant whatever size or shape it was, the conductivity of graphene increases the more graphene there is. Which means that it can theoretically absorb an unlimited amount of heat. So the insulation traps warm air around your body while the graphene creates extra warmth by storing heat.

The jacket is filled with insulation made with recycled polyester from plastic bottles. And it’s when the plastic is being melted down and spun into new fibre, that we add a graphene nanopowder so that it infuses directly into the fibres. Designed to mimic the performance of natural down, the insulation is clustered into hundreds of individual fibre balls that we’ve sewn into square-shaped baffles, which reduce the chance of cold spots by preventing insulation from sliding around inside the jacket.

The inside of the jacket is lined with a lightweight nylon engineered with a mini ripstop for durability. It’s also treated with a water repellent coating to make sure the insulation stays dry and protected from the inside too.

The hood is fully insulated with graphene insulation to protect your head in subzero temperatures. Most of the hood is lined with the same fill as the rest of the jacket, while the peak is lined with thinner, compact sheets of graphene insulation so it doesn’t get bulky. These sheets are also made from 50% recycled polyester as well as graphene nanoparticles. The hood can be tightened round your head in a storm using the elasticated cord adjuster at the back.

Every detail of the jacket has been built to protect you from the weather and keep you comfortable. There’s a two-way, water repellent front zipper that you can open and close from the top and the bottom of the jacket. The hem tightens with cord adjusters on both sides of the hip. And the cuffs are elasticated to make a seal around your wrists or gloves.

The two fleece-lined side pockets close with water repellent lockable zippers protected by storm flaps. And there’s also a secure internal zipped pocket at the chest for storing your phone and wallet.

Graphene is bacteriostatic – which means bacteria can’t grow or reproduce on its surface. So because it’s actually the build-up of the bacteria in sweat that makes your clothes smell, the puffer will stay fresher longer. As well as being bacteriostatic, the graphene membrane is also hypoallergenic and anti-static.

When graphite is reduced to a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagon formation, it turns into a supermaterial unlike anything ever known before – it’s so strong and so stretchy that the fibres of a big enough spider web coated in graphene could catch a falling plane. With the potential to transform almost every industry from space travel to electronics, graphene is so mind-blowing that its discovery was described as like finding CERN’s Large Hadron Collider on your desk.