Personal Thermoregulation by Moisture-Engineered Materials

Personal thermal management can effectively manage the skin microenvironment, improve human comfort, and reduce energy consumption. In personal thermal-management technology, owing to the high latent heat of water evaporation in wet-response textiles, heat- and moisture-transfer coexist and interact with each other. In the last few years, with rapid advances in materials science and innovative polymers, humidity-sensitive textiles have been developed for personal thermal management. However, a large gap exists between the conceptual laboratory-scale design and actual textile. Here, moisture-responsive textiles based on flap opening and closing, those based on yarn/fiber deformation, and sweat-evaporation regulation based on textile design for personal thermoregulation are reviewed, and the corresponding mechanisms and research progress are discussed. Finally, the existing engineering and scientific limitations and future developments are considered to resolve the existing issues and accelerate the practical application of moisture-responsive textiles and related technologies.