Breathable, Flexible, and Durable Woven Fabric with Polyester/Carbon Nanotube-Wrapped Cotton Yarns for Wearable Electrothermal Heaters
- 1National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, 199 Ren-Ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China
- 2PPM Institute of Functional Materials, Poly Plastic Masterbatch (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., 29 Xujiaguan Road, Suzhou 215144, China
Abstract
Owing to their breathability, flexibility, washability, and wearability, fabric-based wearable heaters have gained significant attention for personal thermal management and thermotherapy applications. A key challenge, however, lies in achieving high electrical conductivity without compromising the inherent fabric properties or electrothermal performance. To address this, we applied a surface engineering strategy by weaving polyester (PET) warp yarns with carbon nanotube-wrapped cotton weft yarns (CCY) to construct a conductive blended fabric. The CCY was prepared through a facile surface wrapping process, creating a conductive layer on the cotton yarns. The resulting PET/CCY fabric exhibited excellent breathability, with air permeability of 1104.09 ± 7.69 mm s−1 and moisture permeability of 2536.67 ± 25.45 g m−2 day−1. It also demonstrated superior electrothermal performance, including a rapid response time (45 s), low driving voltage (1–7 V), uniform temperature distribution, and reliable stability. Remarkably, the fabric maintained consistent performance after 5000 bending cycles, 500 folding cycles, 60 washing cycles, and 12 weeks of atmospheric exposure, highlighting its flexibility, washability, and long-term durability. These comprehensive properties position the PET/CCY blended fabric as a promising high-performance wearable heater for advanced personal thermal management and thermotherapy applications.
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BibTeX
@article{liang2026breathable,
title = {{Breathable, Flexible, and Durable Woven Fabric with Polyester/Carbon Nanotube-Wrapped Cotton Yarns for Wearable Electrothermal Heaters}},
author = {Yunxia Liang and Xuejiao Wang and Qiwen Liu and Ya Wang and Yuexiao Sun and Yiming Xu and Dianliang Wang and Xiaogang Luo and Ke-Qin Zhang},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18192454},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13667458},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Breathable, Flexible, and Durable Woven Fabric with Polyester/Carbon Nanotube-Wrapped Cotton Yarns for Wearable Electrothermal Heaters
AU - Yunxia Liang
AU - Xuejiao Wang
AU - Qiwen Liu
AU - Ya Wang
AU - Yuexiao Sun
AU - Yiming Xu
AU - Dianliang Wang
AU - Xiaogang Luo
AU - Ke-Qin Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18192454
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13667458
AB - Owing to their breathability, flexibility, washability, and wearability, fabric-based wearable heaters have gained significant attention for personal thermal management and thermotherapy applications. A key challenge, however, lies in achieving high electrical conductivity without compromising the inherent fabric properties or electrothermal performance. To address this, we applied a surface engineering strategy by weaving polyester (PET) warp yarns with carbon nanotube-wrapped cotton weft yarns (CCY) to construct a conductive blended fabric. The CCY was prepared through a facile surface wrapping process, creating a conductive layer on the cotton yarns. The resulting PET/CCY fabric exhibited excellent breathability, with air permeability of 1104.09 ± 7.69 mm s−1 and moisture permeability of 2536.67 ± 25.45 g m−2 day−1. It also demonstrated superior electrothermal performance, including a rapid response time (45 s), low driving voltage (1–7 V), uniform temperature distribution, and reliable stability. Remarkably, the fabric maintained consistent performance after 5000 bending cycles, 500 folding cycles, 60 washing cycles, and 12 weeks of atmospheric exposure, highlighting its flexibility, washability, and long-term durability. These comprehensive properties position the PET/CCY blended fabric as a promising high-performance wearable heater for advanced personal thermal management and thermotherapy applications.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -