Thermoregulatory clothing with temperature-adaptive multimodal body heat regulation

• Published in: Cell reports physical science 2022-07, Vol.3 (7), p.100958, Article 100958
• Main Authors: Chai, Jiale, Kang, Zhanxiao, Yan, Yishu, Lou, Lun, Zhou, Yiying, Fan, Jintu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: building energy saving; multimodal body heat regulation; temperature-adaptive; thermoregulatory clothing
• ISSN: 2666-3864; 2666-3864
• DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100958

Thermoregulatory clothing plays an indispensable role in maintaining body thermal comfort and achieving building energy savings in response to fluctuating ambient. Existing temperature-adaptive clothing without external energy input has very limited thermoregulatory power because of the lack of simultaneous regulation of multiple heat-dissipation pathways. Here, we report thermoregulatory clothing with temperature-adaptive multimodal body-heat regulation (viz. convection, radiation, and sweat evaporation), which can automatically adapt to temperature change (15°C–35°C) within seconds by incorporating mechanically and infrared optically tailored metalized polyethylene actuators into textiles. Based on thermal manikin tests and thermo-physiological modeling, it demonstrates that the designed clothing can expand comfort zone by more than 2°C on both cold and hot sides, corresponding to about 30% building energy savings when used in indoor environment. The smart clothing can also significantly improve the comfort and performance of wearers when exposed to fluctuating or extreme environmental conditions. [Display omitted] •A temperature-adaptive actuator is mechanically and infrared-optically tailored•The actuator is integrated into clothing for multimodal body-heat regulation•Thermal manikin tests and thermo-physiological modeling are conducted•Thermal comfort zone is expanded by more than 2°C on both cold and hot sides Chai et al. fabricate temperature-adaptive clothing, adopting metalized polyethylene film as actuator. The clothing can automatically adapt to ambient temperature change with multimodal body-heat regulation for improved thermal comfort and building energy savings.