Climate change and the urgency of decarbonizing the built environment are driving technological innovation in the way we deliver thermal comfort to occupants. These changes, in turn, seem to be setting the directions for contemporary thermal comfort research. This article presents a literature review of major changes, developments, and trends in the field of thermal comfort research over the last 20 years. One of the main paradigm shift was the fundamental conceptual reorientation that has taken place in thermal comfort thinking over the last 20 years; a shift away from the physically based determinism of Fanger's comfort model toward the mainstream and acceptance of the adaptive comfort model. Another noticeable shift has been from the undesirable toward the desirable qualities of air movement. Additionally, sophisticated models covering the physics and physiology of the human body were developed, driven by the continuous challenge to model thermal comfort at the same anatomical resolution and to combine these localized signals into a coherent, global thermal perception. Finally, the demand for ever increasing building energy efficiency is pushing technological innovation in the way we deliver comfortable indoor environments. These trends, in turn, continue setting the directions for contemporary thermal comfort research for the next decades.

We report a flexible battery-type electrode based on binder-free nickel cobalt layered double hydroxide nanosheets adhered to nickel cobalt layered double hydroxide nanoflake arrays on nickel fabric (NC LDH NFAs@NSs/Ni fabric) using facile and eco-friendly synthesis methods. Herein, we utilized discarded polyester fabric as a cost-effective substrate for in situ electroless deposition of Ni, which exhibited good flexibility, light weight, and high conductivity. Subsequently, the vertically aligned NC LDH NFAs were grown on Ni fabric by means of a hot-air oven-based method, and fluffy-like NC LDH NS branches are further decorated on NC LDH NFAs by a simple electrochemical deposition method. The as-prepared core-shell-like nanoarchitectures improve the specific surface area and electrochemical activity, which provides the ideal pathways for electrolyte diffusion and charge transportation. When the electrochemical performance was tested in 1 M KOH aqueous solution, the core-shell-like NC LDH NFAs@NSs/Ni fabric electrode liberated a maximum areal capacity of 536.96 μAh/cm at a current density of 2 mA/cm and excellent rate capability of 78.3% at 30 mA/cm (420.5 μAh/cm) with a good cycling stability. Moreover, a fabric-based hybrid supercapacitor (SC) was assembled, which achieves a stable operational potential window of 1.6 V, a large areal capacitance of 1147.23 mF/cm at 3 mA/cm, and a high energy density of 0.392 mWh/cm at a power density of 2.353 mW/cm. Utilizing such high energy storage abilities and flexible properties, the fabricated hybrid SC operated the wearable digital watch and electric motor fan for real-time applications.

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and light-weight SCs with the capability of being rolled-up have fascinated particular interest in wearable and portable electronics as a next-generation power system. [4] To design these devices, textilebased electrodes with well-architectured nanomaterials are crucial. [5] Accordingly, several textile-based substrates which include carbon cloth, carbon nanotube coated fabric, carbon fiber paper, etc. have been explored for flexible SCs owing to their intertwined fibrous texture, high flexibility and excellent stability. [6] In fact, the carbon-based textiles/papers suffer from high hydrophobicity and low conductivity, and they are not suitable for clothing. Meanwhile, in view of the cost, the carbon textile/paper-based electrodes are expensive and the complicated process could be required to attain these substrates. [7] Therefore, it is important to pursue suitable alternatives with low cost and ecofriendliness for carbon-based textiles. [8,9] In this context, the conductive fabrics (CFs) which are fabricated with a simple wet-chemical-based plating of metallic layers on polyester fibers enable the prominence in several textile industries. [10] Such chemical-based coating methods can be easily scaled up for low-cost and large-scale production. [11] As a result of the strongly adhered metallic layers on polyester fibers, they can easily lift up the CFs for desirable properties including high conductivity, great flexibility, high mechanical stability and water washability. The attractive properties of CFs offer great potential for flexible electrodes in SCs.On the other hand, the recent development of nanomaterials and nanotechnology has enabled the advanced electroactive materials for high-performance SCs. Typically, SCs may store energy through two mechanisms which include electric double-layer capacitive (EDLC) process and faradaic redox reaction. [12,13] Because of the higher discharge capacity and multiple oxidation states, faradaic electroactive materials show higher electrochemical performance than EDLC materials. So far, transition metal hydroxide/oxides including Co(OH) 2 , ZnCo 2 O 4 , CuO, NiO, CoMoO 4 , NiCo-layered double hydroxide (LDH), etc. with versatile morphologies were investigated mainly as redox-active materials. [11,[14][15][16] However, the rate performance and stability of these transition metal hydroxides/oxides are still inferior because of their poor electrical Highly flexible and conductive fabric (CF)-supported cauliflower-like nickel selenide nanostructures (Ni 3 Se 2 NSs) are facilely synthesized by a singlestep chronoamperometry voltage-assisted electrochemical deposition (ECD) method and used as a positive electrode in supercapacitors (SCs). The CF substrate composed of multi-layered metallic films on the surface of polyester fibers enables to provide high electrical conductivity as a working electrode in ECD process. Owing to good electrical conductivity, high porosity and intertwined fibrous framework of CF, cauliflower-like Ni 3 Se 2 NSs are densely integrated onto the ent...

Ventilation and air distribution methods are important for indoor thermal environments and air quality. Effective distribution of airflow for indoor built environments with the aim of simultaneously offsetting thermal and ventilation loads in an energy efficient manner has been the research focus in the past several decades. Based on airflow characteristics, ventilation methods can be categorized as fully mixed or non-uniform. Non-uniform methods can be further divided into piston, stratified and task zone ventilation. In this paper, the theory, performance, practical applications, limitations and solutions pertaining to ventilation and air distribution methods are critically reviewed. Since many ventilation methods are buoyancy driving that confines their use for heating mode, some methods suitable for heating are discussed. Furthermore, measuring and evaluating methods for ventilation and air distribution are also discussed to give a comprehensive framework of the review.