Fabric Comprised of Cotton Impregnated with Graphene Oxide and Coated with Polystyrene for Personal Moisture and Thermal Management

Abstract

Moisture and thermal management fabrics that remove perspiration and regulate skin temperature can improve human comfort. However, fabrics with radiant cooling and rapid sw eat evaporation effects that can address both heat and moisture management remain a challenge. Therefore, a perspiration evaporation fabric based on graphene oxide (GO), polystyrene (PS), and cotton (referred to as G/P-C) was prepared using a simple soaking and electrostatic spinning strategy. When there was no perspiration (indoor scenarios), the fabric exhibited an exceptional radiative cooling capacity. The heat storage power of the G/P-C fabric (0.68 W/m2) was lower than that of cotton (4.63 W/m2) due to the integrated GO nanosheets that absorb human infrared radiation (IR), indicating that less heat was trapped between the skin and the fabric. Additionally, the temperature of human skin covered with the G/P-C fabric decreased by approximately 1.6 °C from that of skin covered with cotton. When there was perspiration (outdoor scenarios), the surface temperature of the resulting fabric increased by 3.2 °C and the evaporation rate was nearly twice that of cotton due to the combination of solar radiation adsorption and directional water transport. This fabric is expected to provide insight into the development of sweat management for personal health and comfort.