A Biomimetic Textile with Self-Assembled Hierarchical Porous Fibers for Thermal Insulation

Abstract

Natural biomaterials with a porous structure inspired smart textiles for personal thermal management. Inspired by the hierarchically fibrous structure of hides, self-assembled hierarchical fibers with cross-scale porous networks are fabricated by the facile wet-spinning method. The biomimetic textile (abbreviated as "T") woven by such fibers exhibits a low thermal conductivity (0.07 W/mK) comparable to that of cowhide. It also shows a high mechanical strength of up to 10 MPa as well as good flexibility (fracture strain exceeds 300%) and hydrophobicity. The heat conduction mechanism of the hierarchical structure is analyzed via finite element simulation. When immersed with the phase-change material, the textile (named as "P") works like an adipose layer. Integration of the layers of T and P effectively slows down the heat conduction and decreases the surface temperature, resembling an animal insulation system. The study paves the way to mass production of high-performance biomimetic materials with hierarchical cellular microstructures for application in thermal insulation.

Redox Responsive Sol–Gel Transition: A New Concept for Continuous Spinning of High-Performance and Recyclable Aerogel Fibers

“…For example, despite the low TC of wet spun aramid or its composite aerogel fibers (0.034∼0.060 W m –1 K –1 ), their strength was relatively poor (0.5∼8.1 MPa). ,, The reported PI aerogel fibers also encountered such contradictions (strength of 2.1∼14.7 MPa and TC of 0.025∼0.036 W m –1 K –1 ). ,, Despite that the incorporation of silver nanowire and MXene could improve the strength of aramid aerogel fibers to 26.7 MPa, the TC was substantially increased to 0.086 W m –1 K –1 . Aerogel fibers based on cellulose nanofiber, silk, and silica, or with specially design coaxial ,, and hierarchical porous structure also suffered from poor mechanical property or relatively high TC or both. In this work, the muscular coordination bonds and uniform porous structure of OPBI/Co 3+ aerogel fibers significantly improved the mechanical properties with reserved low TC.…”

“…8,19,46 Despite that the incorporation of silver nanowire and MXene could improve the strength of aramid aerogel fibers to 26.7 MPa, the TC was substantially increased to 0.086 W m −1 K −1 . 50 Aerogel fibers based on cellulose nanofiber, 48 silk, 17 and silica, 52 or with specially design coaxial 47,49,51 and hierarchical porous structure 52 also suffered from poor mechanical property or relatively high TC or both. In this work, the muscular coordination bonds and uniform porous structure of OPBI/Co 3+ aerogel fibers significantly improved the mechanical properties with reserved low TC.…”

Multisource Energy Harvester on Textile and Plants for Clean Energy Generation from Wind and Rainwater Droplets

“…The T-TENGs are highly attractive for our devices because of excellent features such as flexibility, wider material choices with simple structural design, etc . and can harvest electricity from biomechanical, , wind, and other ambient mechanical energy excitation. , Also, biomimetic textile is a unique class of material, as it offers advantages such as being soft, lightweight, and porous and is compatible with biodegradability and recyclability. , Biomimetic textiles with various forms of renewable energy harvesters based on mechanical, thermal, biochemical, solar, as well as hybrid energy forms have been reported.…”

Reduced Graphene Oxide/Cellulose Sodium Aerogel-Supported Eutectic Phase Change Material Gel Demonstrating Superior Energy Conversion and Storage Capacity toward High-Performance Personal Thermal Management

“…Personal thermal management (PTM) is a way to adjust the temperature of the body’s surface environment through changes in external media to maintain and ensure that the body is in a safe and comfortable state. − It is determined that the phase transition temperature should be situated between 18 and 36 °C − to ensure skin comfort and improve thermal comfort. Traditional thermal management methods , such as power-assisted garment , and wearable fabric-based materials are not only highly energy consuming but also have limited effectiveness in their heat dissipation efficiency, which may not be sufficient to satisfy the body’s needs.…”