The flexible cladding, which can withstand temperatures of at least 1200 °C, is a sandwich of three layers of ceramic fibre, each around 0.25 centimetres thick, interspersed with layers of silicon - coated glass fibre and thin aluminium foil.
Materials scientists have coatedglass - fibre textiles with a thin layer of porous carbon to make a filter that can remove dangerous compounds down to parts per million levels.