Smart Textiles for Personal Thermal Management

Noura Al-Harbi^*
*Correspondence: Noura Al-Harbi, Department of Materials Engineering, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, Email:

Introduction

This review explores the latest developments in personal thermal management using textiles embedded with thermoelectric (TE) devices and phase change materials (PCMs). It highlights the fundamental mechanisms, material selection, fabrication techniques, and performance of these advanced textiles, emphasizing their potential for both cooling and heating applications to enhance human comfort and energy efficiency. The article also discusses challenges and future directions for these technologies [1].

This paper surveys the recent advancements in thermoregulating textiles that incorporate phase change materials (PCMs). It delves into various types of PCMs, their microencapsulation techniques, and different methods of integrating them into textile structures. The review highlights the effectiveness of PCM textiles in providing passive thermal management, discussing their applications, current challenges like durability and comfort, and future research opportunities [2].

This comprehensive review assesses the current landscape of wearable personal thermal management technologies. It covers diverse approaches including passive, active, and hybrid systems, discussing materials and strategies from radiative cooling/heating to thermoelectric and evaporative cooling. The authors present a detailed analysis of performance metrics, design considerations, and the challenges in developing next-generation intelligent textiles for adaptive thermal comfort [3].

This review focuses on the latest progress in intelligent fabrics that offer responsive thermal management capabilities. It explores various mechanisms, such as smart shape memory polymers, thermochromic materials, and responsive hydrogels, enabling fabrics to adapt to environmental temperature changes. The discussion covers material design, fabrication, and their potential applications in smart clothing for enhanced comfort and energy saving [4].

This paper provides an overview of recent developments in passive radiative cooling textiles. It delves into the principles of radiative cooling, discussing how textiles can be engineered to efficiently dissipate heat by emitting infrared radiation without external energy input. The review covers innovative materials, fabrication methods, and practical applications, highlighting their role in sustainable personal thermal management and energy conservation [5].

This review focuses on the latest advancements in integrating phase change materials (PCMs) into textiles for smart thermoregulation. It explores various PCM types, encapsulation techniques, and methods for direct incorporation into fibers and fabrics. The article discusses how these innovative textiles can provide dynamic thermal comfort by absorbing or releasing latent heat, highlighting their potential in various applications and addressing current challenges in durability and large-scale production [6].

This review examines flexible thermoelectric materials and devices designed for wearable thermal management. It explores the principles of thermoelectric cooling and heating, focusing on the development of highly efficient, bendable, and lightweight thermoelectric modules. The article covers novel materials, device architectures, and integration strategies into textiles, emphasizing their application in personal comfort systems and the challenges in achieving optimal performance and durability [7].

This review summarizes recent advancements in smart textiles for personal thermal comfort management. It categorizes different approaches into passive and active systems, discussing materials and technologies such as phase change materials, thermoelectric devices, and shape memory alloys. The article addresses the multi-functional aspects of these textiles, their applications in various scenarios, and the challenges remaining in terms of wearability, durability, and cost-effectiveness [8].

This review explores the concept of adaptive thermal comfort through smart fabrics and wearable systems. It delves into materials and technologies that allow textiles to dynamically respond to environmental and physiological changes, providing personalized thermal regulation. The paper covers various active and passive mechanisms, discussing their design principles, integration methods, and potential to enhance human comfort and reduce energy consumption in built environments [9].

This research focuses on developing multifunctional fabrics specifically for sportswear, emphasizing combined excellent moisture management and thermal regulation properties. It investigates different fiber structures and finishing treatments to achieve rapid sweat wicking and effective temperature control, crucial for athletic performance and comfort. The study highlights the synergistic effects of material selection and structural design in creating high-performance textiles [10].

Description

The current landscape of wearable personal thermal management (PTM) technologies is broadly assessed, covering diverse approaches including passive, active, and hybrid systems [3]. This involves a detailed discussion on materials and strategies ranging from radiative cooling and heating to thermoelectric and evaporative cooling. A significant area of innovation lies in intelligent fabrics that offer responsive thermal management capabilities [4]. These textiles utilize mechanisms such as smart shape memory polymers, thermochromic materials, and responsive hydrogels, allowing them to adapt dynamically to environmental temperature changes. Such advancements are crucial for developing smart clothing aimed at enhancing user comfort and achieving energy savings. The broader concept of adaptive thermal comfort is explored through these smart fabrics and wearable systems, emphasizing their ability to dynamically respond to both environmental and physiological changes for personalized thermal regulation, thereby enhancing human comfort and potentially reducing energy consumption in built environments [9].

One key development involves textiles embedded with thermoelectric (TE) devices and phase change materials (PCMs), representing advanced solutions for personal thermal management [1]. This research highlights the fundamental mechanisms, material selection, fabrication techniques, and performance of these textiles, emphasizing their dual potential for both cooling and heating applications to improve human comfort and energy efficiency. In parallel, significant progress has been made in thermoregulating textiles by extensively incorporating PCMs [2]. This work delves into various types of PCMs, their microencapsulation techniques, and different methods of integrating them effectively into textile structures, highlighting their effectiveness in providing passive thermal management. Further advancements concentrate on integrating PCMs into textiles specifically for smart thermoregulation, exploring diverse PCM types and encapsulation methods to allow these innovative textiles to provide dynamic thermal comfort by absorbing or releasing latent heat. Current challenges include durability and large-scale production [6].

Flexible thermoelectric materials and devices are also being extensively examined for wearable thermal management systems [7]. Research in this area explores the core principles of thermoelectric cooling and heating, with a strong focus on developing highly efficient, bendable, and lightweight thermoelectric modules. It covers novel materials, innovative device architectures, and effective integration strategies into textiles, aiming for applications in personal comfort systems while addressing challenges related to optimal performance and durability. Concurrently, an overview of recent developments in passive radiative cooling textiles highlights how these fabrics can efficiently dissipate heat by emitting infrared radiation without requiring external energy input. This underscores their vital role in sustainable personal thermal management and broader energy conservation efforts [5].

In essence, smart textiles designed for personal thermal comfort management encompass a range of passive and active systems [8]. These incorporate advanced materials and technologies such as phase change materials, thermoelectric devices, and shape memory alloys. The multi-functional aspects of these textiles are a major focus, alongside their diverse applications in various scenarios. Despite these promising developments, significant challenges remain, particularly concerning their wearability, overall durability, and cost-effectiveness for widespread adoption. Furthermore, specialized research has focused on developing multifunctional fabrics tailored for sportswear, emphasizing the critical combination of excellent moisture management and thermal regulation properties [10]. This involves investigating different fiber structures and finishing treatments to ensure rapid sweat wicking and effective temperature control, which are essential for optimizing athletic performance and comfort.

Conclusion

The evolving field of personal thermal management (PTM) focuses on integrating advanced technologies into textiles and wearable systems to enhance human comfort and energy efficiency [3, 9]. Comprehensive reviews highlight a variety of approaches, including passive, active, and hybrid systems. A significant area of development involves textiles embedded with thermoelectric (TE) devices and phase change materials (PCMs), which are designed for both cooling and heating applications [1]. Extensive research delves into PCMs, examining various types, microencapsulation techniques, and integration methods into textile structures for effective thermoregulation [2, 6]. Concurrently, flexible thermoelectric materials are being developed for lightweight, bendable modules suitable for wearable thermal management, addressing performance and durability challenges [7]. Intelligent fabrics are also emerging, incorporating smart shape memory polymers, thermochromic materials, and responsive hydrogels to allow textiles to dynamically adapt to environmental temperature changes and physiological needs [4]. Passive radiative cooling textiles offer a sustainable solution by efficiently dissipating heat without external energy input, contributing to energy conservation [5]. While these smart textiles demonstrate multi-functional capabilities across various applications, persistent challenges remain in terms of wearability, durability, and cost-effectiveness. The integration of advanced features for sportswear, combining moisture management and thermal regulation, further exemplifies these ongoing efforts [8, 10].

Acknowledgement

None

Conflict of Interest

None

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