Laminated PET-based membranes with sweat transportation and dual thermal insulation properties

Abstract

Wearable polyester fiber materials with excellent sweat transportation and enhanced thermal management properties have received increasing attention in functional materials and energy saving fields because of not only for wearing comfort but also for developing advanced energy-saving materials. Herein, this work presents an effective and sustainable strategy for fabrication of laminated CNTs-MnO2 nanowires/PET fibers@Ag (CMPFA) membranes using waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric, manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanowires, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and silver nanoparticles as building blocks through electrospinning, vacuum filtration and subsequent magnetron sputtering processes, as well as its application in personal thermal management. The results indicated that simulated sweat on the PET fibers@Ag side can penetrate quickly into the CNTs-MnO2 nanowires side within 2.4 s, implying the excellent sweat transport properties of laminated CMPFA membranes. More importantly, the synergistic thermal management properties can be obtained via infrared radiation and absorb sunlight. Compared with bare PET fibers membranes, the laminated CMPFA membranes exhibited excellent thermal insulation properties. The surface temperature of laminated CMPFA membranes is 11.9 °C higher than that of bare PET fibers membranes after 50 s of simulate sunlight exposure. In addition, the laminated CMPFA membranes show antibacterial properties, breathability, and water vapor permeability, which is beneficial to improving the comfort of wearer. This study shows that the fabrication of flexible wearable laminated membranes for personal thermal management application can be extended for the fabricated of other waste plastic based-materials with controlled structures and desired functions for various applications.