Sweat-Resistant Parylene-C Encapsulated Conductive Textiles for Active Thermal Management

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Textile Engineering
• Wearable Technology

Background:

• Electro-thermal textiles offer active thermal management but suffer from metal ion release and corrosion from sweat.
• Copper-coated textiles (CuPET) are effective heaters but lack durability in humid conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a Parylene-C encapsulation strategy for CuPET to improve sweat resistance and long-term performance.
• To evaluate the impact of Parylene-C coating on the thermal, electrical, and comfort properties of CuPET.

Main Methods:

• Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of Parylene-C films (4-16 μm) onto CuPET nonwovens.
• Morphological, comfort (air permeability), electro-thermal, and copper ion release (ICP-OES) analyses.
• Testing under artificial sweat exposure to assess durability.

Main Results:

• Parylene-C coating effectively protected CuPET from copper ion release (≈80% reduction) in artificial sweat.
• Coated textiles exhibited rapid, uniform Joule heating (40-45 °C in 2 min at 2 V).
• Air permeability was reduced but maintained acceptable breathability (3100 to 1100 L·m^-2·s^-1).

Conclusions:

• Parylene-C encapsulation provides a scalable and effective method to enhance the safety, durability, and thermal performance of electro-thermal textiles.
• This approach enables the development of reliable, actively heated smart textiles for advanced thermal insulation.