Conductive Textile Embedded with Bioinspired Wettability for Prolonged and Energy Efficient Thermal Management

The design of electrically conductive textiles appears to be a promising approach to combat the existing challenge of deaths caused by severe cold climates around the globe. However, reports on the scalable fabrication of tolerant conductive textiles maintaining a low electrical resistance with an ability for unperturbed and prolonged performance are scarce. Here, a breathable and wrappable water-repellent conductive textile (water-repellent CT) with electrothermal and photothermal conversion abilities at low external voltage and in weak solar light is introduced, respectively. In the current approach, less carbon-containing silver nanowires (AgNWs) are selected to spray deposit on a commercially available woven textile to attend a uniform and highly conductive network over a large dimension. The subsequent spray deposition of a reaction mixture of selected small molecules prevents aerial oxidation of deposited AgNWs even at elevated temperatures and provides bioinspired extreme water-repellence. Thus, it maintains an unperturbed performance even when exposed to different aqueous environment. Using the scalability of current approach and durability of prepared water-repellent CT, relevant wearable devices are derived to demonstrate personal heat management ability with rechargeable and portable battery for prolonged duration in severely cold conditions. Thus, the prepared water-repellent CT enabled an energy-efficient and "wrappable" heating, providing a basis for various potential applications.