Enhancing Personal Thermal Comfort: Radiative Cooling Smart Textiles for Efficient Thermal Management

Smart textiles with passive radiative cooling (PRC) characteristics possess the ability to reflect sunlight and dissipate heat to the outdoor environment without requiring additional power input. The development of smart cooling textiles with enhanced performance, cost-effective production technology, and scalable manufacturing has garnered significant
attention. In this study, we present the development of a PRC smart textile using state-of-the-art electrospinning technology. Firstly, the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) concentrations were optimized, followed by the incorporation of alumina nanoparticles (NPs) into the spinning solutions. Our results demonstrate that the addition of alumina NPs during the electrospinning process significantly improves the solar reflectivity of the optimized PAN from 93% to 97%. Furthermore, the developed smart textiles exhibit a remarkable midinfrared (MIR) emissivity of 95% with 8 to 13 µm wavelength. The results unequivocally indicate that smart textile has the capability to effectively mitigate heat stress of the human body across a wide range of scenarios. This substantiates its potential to significantly enhance the cooling effect, thereby validating its feasibility for widespread implementation on a global scale. With exceptional optical and cooling characteristics, as well as favorable mechanical and wearable features, the developed PRC textile shows great potential for commercial applications and contributes to a sustainable economy.