The
wild environment is unpredictable where soaring or plummeting
temperatures in extreme weather events can pose serious threats to
human lives. Incorporating passive evaporative cooling and controllable
electric heating into clothing could effectively protect human beings
from such harsh environments. In this work, poly(3,4-ethylene dioxy
thiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PPP) fibers
with the core–shell structure and attractively textured surface
have been successfully prepared via a single-nozzle wet-spinning technique.
Results show that the fibers possess fascinating specific surface
area (184.8 m2·g–1), electrical
conductivity (50 S·cm–1), and stretchability
(>100%) because of the novel preparation method and hierarchical
morphological
design. Through simple textile manufacturing routes, PPP fibers can
be woven into fabrics easily, which exhibit desirable breathability,
washability, and mechanical strength for smart textiles while maintaining
favorable hygroscopicity. Benefiting from the textured structure with
large specific surface area, PPP fabric exhibits attractile evaporative
cooling rate. Practical application tests have demonstrated that under
direct sunlight, the surface temperature of the PPP fabric is ∼5.2
and ∼10.8 °C lower than commercial cotton and polyester
fabrics, respectively. Meanwhile, as conductive fibers, the resultant
PPP fabric can heat under low-power electricity, therefore achieving
the effect of “warmth in winter and coolness in summer”.
The facile fabrication process and elevated performance of PPP fibers
present significant advantages for applications in intelligent garments
and textiles, as well as comprehensive personal thermal management,
which opens a new avenue for future design in these fields.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.