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Updated: Jun 13, 2025

Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation
Published on: February 5, 2020
Janus Textile for Multifunctional Personal Thermal Management via Dual Photothermal-Electrothermal Conversion
Jie Wang1, Peibo Du1, Jinping Zhang1
1National Engineering Research Center for Dyeing and Finishing of Textiles, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
Abstract:
In order to fulfill the need for maintaining human thermal comfort under cold conditions, the development of a smart personal thermal management (PTM) textile is imminent. However, existing PTM textiles suffer from weak thermal conversion capability, a single source of energy, and limited functionality. In this study, an asymmetrically structured PTM textile is demonstrated that not only possesses superior photothermal and electrothermal conversion capabilities but also exhibits self-cleaning, electromagnetic shielding, and excellent antimicrobial properties. Herein, a multienergy-coupled textile with an asymmetric structure was ingeniously designed by self-polymerization method and vacuum filtration finishing. Micronano rough structure of polyaniline and polypyrrole (PANI-PPY) synergistically traps more heat (98.4% solar absorption), and the silver nanowires (AgNWs) coating's high mid-infrared radiation reflectance (70.1%), solar heating (60 s, 80.6 °C, 1.025 °C/s), and Joule heating (1.1 V, 50 s, 144 °C, 2.328 °C/s) give the fabric with superior thermal comfort. Meanwhile, the rough structure of the fabric surface (PANI-PPY) and the encapsulation of PDMS enable the fabric to have an excellent self-cleaning ability (WCA: 153.3°). In addition, the versatility of the material gives the fabric excellent electromagnetic shielding properties (76.12 dB) and antimicrobial properties (100%). In conclusion, these results may provide new insights into the development of next-generation warming textiles.
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