Electrically heated materials play a critical role in electrically heated textiles, which have potential applications in a wide range of fields for human healthcare. Among them, carbon nanotube film (CNTF) has gained a great deal of attention because of its excellent electrical and thermal conductivity. In this paper, we explored the electrothermal property of CNTF with different sizes and CNTF covered by polyester. It showed that the air temperature had a certain effect on the electrothermal performance of the CNTF. When a voltage of 2.5 V was applied, the 20 mm × 20 mm CNTF sample stored at 25°C achieved the highest temperature of about 37°C, which was 34°C when stored at −20°C. In addition, was observed that adding a polyester protective fabric can prevent heat loss effectively. When a voltage of 5.5 V was applied, the U-shaped CNTF achieved the highest temperature of about 42°C, while the polyester-CNTF achieved about 35°C. Notably, CNTF exhibited rapid temperature response when the voltages were turned on and off. When the voltage was 4.5 V, the 20 mm × 20 mm CNTF reached 50°C in 5 s, and the heating rate was about 10°C/s. When the voltage was turned off, the temperature dropped about 30°C immediately in 5 s. Finally, the relationship between the thermal conductivity of CNTF and its mass and specific heat capacity was constructed using Newton's law of cooling. This provided a model to calculate and predict the performance, which can help to design the power and temperature of electrical heated textiles in the future.

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Electric heating gloves are essential for people working in severe cold environments which could protect their hands warm efficiently. Existing electric heating gloves, however, tend to restrict the movement of the fingers and have limited thermal protection, affecting the working efficiency of the wearers. Here, we report on the development and evaluation of carbon nanotube film (CNTF) and metal fiber based electric heating gloves. The electric heating elements were placed in the back of the gloves, and we tested the electric heating properties of the gloves. They showed great electrothermal performance and it had a certain repeatability and stability through multiple experiments. Then the electro-thermal and ergonomic performance of the gloves were evaluated under the severe cold outdoor environment of −20 ± 2°C. In comparison with conventional single layer polar fleece gloves and carbon fiber electric heating gloves that purchased from the market, CNTF based gloves and metal fiber-based gloves demonstrated outstanding advantages in terms of faster heating speed, great warmth retention, and enhanced finger agility, which is attributed to the electrothermal properties of CNTF and metal fiber as well as the structural design of the gloves.

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