Passive radiative personal heating by woven fabrics containing aluminum particles

Maintaining the thermal comfort of the human body in cold environments has always been considered for public health and energy saving. In this regard, methods for local heating of the human body through thermal radiation insulation textiles are provided. This article reports on an eco-friendly and cost-effective technique for the industrial production of personal thermal management textiles via the melt spinning of Polypropylene/Aluminum (PP/Al) compounds. The optimum diameter and filler loading of spherical Al particles to minimize thermal radiation transmittance were determined by numerical full wave analysis. The multifilament PP/Al yarns produced by melt spinning were used as weft yarns for fabric weaving. Our investigation of optical, thermal and mechanical properties of the PP/Al fabrics showed that they had suitable wearability and durability properties as passive radiative heating clothing. The total mid-infrared transmittance and the average emissivity of the most effective fabric sample were 0.20% and 16%, respectively. This fabric, as an outdoor winter garment, increased the skin temperature by 3.8 °C.