Closed-Pore Engineering in Double-Layer Textiles for Adaptive Thermal and Moisture Management

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Textile Engineering
• Thermal Management

Background:

• Conventional protective textiles struggle to balance insulation and breathability in cold, moist conditions.
• Existing multi-layer systems often compromise comfort or heat retention due to moisture accumulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an advanced textile addressing the limitations of current protective clothing in extreme cold and wet environments.
• To engineer a material that provides thermal comfort while managing moisture effectively.

Main Methods:

• Utilized back-weft weaving technology combined with in situ foaming.
• Created an interlocking double-layer textile (Foam-TEX) with closed-pore microspheres and gradient pores.
• Investigated thermal conductivity, moisture transport, and material stability.

Main Results:

• Foam-TEX exhibits low thermal conductivity (0.039 W/(m·K)) due to its closed-pore microstructure.
• Achieved excellent unidirectional moisture transport (one-way transport index 1082%) and high moisture permeability (>4000 g/(m²·24h)).
• Demonstrated exceptional stability across extreme temperatures (-196 to 100 °C), washing, and wringing.

Conclusions:

• Foam-TEX offers a unique solution for thermal comfort and moisture management in cold, wet conditions.
• The textile's structural design effectively prevents heat loss from sweat, enhancing performance in extreme scenarios.
• This scalable platform enables further applications, such as Joule heating for diverse extreme wearing scenarios.