Highly integrated smart mountaineering clothing with dual-mode synergistic heating and sensitive sensing for personal thermal management and human health monitoring

The development of multifunctional textiles is an effective strategy to improve the quality of human life. Normal single-mode heaters and strain sensors have been developed, but their low integration leads to multiple devices being installed on the garment, which greatly increases the weight of the garment and thus reduces its wearability. Here, bio-enzymatic polymerization and a simple shaking deposition method were used to prepare poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and copper(II) sulfide (CuS) onto the surface of the elastic nylon fabrics, which endowed the fabrics with excellent dual-mode heating properties and sensitive sensing properties, and used to develop highly integrated multifunctional and smart mountaineering clothing. In electro-driven heating mode, low-voltage (6 V) and high-voltage (12 V) heating can be used for joint heat therapy and active rapid deicing, respectively. In photo-driven heating mode, low intensity (0.3 sun) and high intensity (1.5 sun) heating can be used for joint heat therapy and rapid antibacterial, respectively. In addition, the fabric has the ability of dual-mode synergistic heating, and the surface temperature of the fabric can exhibit an ultra-high temperature of 137.9°C under the external stimulation of 0.3 sun and 12 V. The fabric will greatly enhance the deicing and antibacterial efficiencies under the synergistic effect. This work provides a facile strategy for the fabrication of flexible and highly integrated multifunctional electronic devices, and therefore has great potential for the design and development of all-in-one multifunctional electronic devices such as personal thermal management, soft robotics, and human-computer interaction.