MXene based Janus fabrics with radiative heating towards efficient personal thermal management

Smart textiles for personal thermal management achieved by regulating multi-wavelength radiative characteristics of fabrics are highly demanded since they are potentially energy efficient, convenient and even fashionable. Herein, we report a Janus fabric for radiative heating by taking full advantages of MXene’s dual characteristics of ultralow mid-infrared emission and high photothermal conversion ability. After brush-coating a MXene layer on one side of a commercial polyamide fabric substrate, the Janus fabric enables 3.4 ℃ temperature increase of the simulated skin by suppressing body radiation loss. Meanwhile, the Janus fabric demonstrates superior photothermal conversion efficiency (13%) and photothermal heating performance, achieving 14.2 ℃ temperature increase under one sun irradiation. By virtue of the robust substrate and lightweight coating, the Janus fabric possesses satisfactory wearability (i.e., mechanical strength, flexibility, permeability), making the fabric be able to heat human body in practical uses. The efficient and durable Janus fabric provides a great potential of future all-day personal thermal management fabrics which can be applied in wide scenarios.