Journal of Textile Research ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (01): 30-37.doi: 10.13475/j.fzxb.20220705708

• Invited Column: Frontiers of Textile Science and Technology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research progress in smart fabrics for thermal and humidity management

CHEN Jiahui1,2, MEI Tao1, ZHAO Qinghua1, YOU Haining1, WANG Wenwen1, WANG Dong1()   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Textile Fiber and Products, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, Hubei 430200, China
    2. College of Textile Science and Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, Hubei 430200, China
  • Received:2022-07-18 Revised:2022-10-08 Online:2023-01-15 Published:2023-02-16

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Abstract:

Significance With rapid development of today's social population and the increasing scarcity of fossil energy, a huge contradiction arose between the surge in energy consumption, e.g., from air conditioning, and the global goals of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality". The large amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by air-conditioning, refrigeration and heating have also become an urgent problem to be solved. Therefore, it is necessary to seek a new method for effectively adjusting the thermal and moist comfort of the human body so as to reduce the energy consumption caused by air conditioning. Textiles can also play a role in managing human comfort in daily life, but would mainly rely on the thickness of clothing to regulate human body temperature. In order to better meet the modern day requirements for life comfort, the active adjustment of smart textiles has demonstrated the potential for adjusting the human body's thermal and moist comfort, thereby reducing the energy consumption in the process of cooling and heating by air conditioning. Under the premise of the "double carbon" goal, this has could be a promising solution.
Progress This review summarizes the research progress in adjusting the thermal and moist comfort of the human body by using smart fabrics. The principle of regulating the thermal and moist condition of the human body through the fabric is introduced. In addition, the researches and mechanisms of the current study on regulating the thermal and moist comfort of the human body by means of fabric materials or fabric structures have been summarized. Coating or combining high-performance materials was adopted to prepare thermal and moist comfort fabrics aiming to regulating human body temperature. High infrared reflection materials such as silver and titanium dioxide, high thermal conductivity materials such as boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs), and high infrared transmission materials such as polyethylene (PE) are proposed. All of these high-performance materials can be used for raising or decreasing the body temperature. The review also introduces the thermal and moist comfort adjustment of smart fabrics caused by different fibers and fabric structures, such as thermal fabrics made of porous fibers, moisture-absorbing and quick-drying fabrics caused by asymmetric structures, and intelligent adjustment fabric that can respond to changes in fabric pore size caused by external temperature and humidity. Finally, this review paper analyzed and discussed the current difficulties and challenges in smart fabrics with different fabrication methods.
Conclusion and Prospect The smart fabric that can manage thermal and humid conditions of human body is necessary and the key is energy shortage. However, the performances of the thermal management, humidity management or thermal and humidity management of the recent smart fabric are directly affected and limited by the materials. Few high-performance functional materials can be utilized to fabricate smart fabrics. In addition, the main technical means of preparing thermal and moist comfort smart fabrics are coatings and material composites. However, the stability of coatings, the compatibility of composite materials, and the difficulty of industrial production limit the development of thermal and moist comfort smart fabrics. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare new fibers that can respond to external heat and humidity stimuli, so as to realize the preparation of fabrics that can intelligently regulate human body temperature and humidity. Additionally, the ease of construction, preparation, and large-scale production of fibers can reduce the cost of smart fabric production. Finally, the current preparation methods and functional principles of intelligent thermal-moist comfort fabrics are summarized, and a low-cost and large-scale preparation method for intelligent thermal-moist comfort fabrics is proposed by technological innovation of fibers.

Key words: smart fabric, thermal and moist comfort, infrared radiation material, heat conduction material, infrared transmission material, moisture absorption and quick drying

CLC Number: 

  • TS1

Fig.1

Schematic diagram of heat transfer between human body, fabric and environment"

Fig.2

Schematic diagram of structure and heat dissipation of BN/PVA fabric"

Fig.3

Fabrication and application of PE/PA6 composite fabric. (a) Schematic diagram of PE/PA6 composite film; (b) Thermal images of human face, mask covered with composite film, and two kinds of commercial masks"

Fig.4

Fabrication and application of biomimetic porous fibers. (a) SEM images of biomimetic porous fibers with different structure(×200); (b) Infrared images of experimental rabbits without wearing fabric, wearing polyester clothes and biomimetic porous fiber braids"

Fig.5

Schematic diagram of 3-D unidirectional water transport fabric. (a) Fabric structure; (b) Cross section of fabric"

Fig.6

Actuation of wool knitted fabrics under humidity stimulation. (a) Actuation process of wool fabric with different structures; (b) Change of pore structure of wool fabric under different water absorptivities"

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