Smart textiles for all weather conditions : Date:
Choosing the right clothing is particularly difficult when the weather can’t make up its mind. As part of the RespothermTex project at Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, scientists are developing intelligent textiles that automatically adapt to the prevailing weather conditions.
Whether pullovers, jackets or trousers – clothing is primarily used to regulate the body temperature of a person and to keep it at around 37 degrees Celsius. Clothing also protects against weather-related influences such as wind, rain and sun. But too much warmth affects the comfort of clothing just as much as too little. Ideally, clothing should therefore be able to do both: dissipate excess body heat and moisture to the outside and protect the body from cooling down. However, the textiles currently available have the disadvantage that they cannot adapt to changing weather conditions.
At Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, a research group – led by textile engineer Manuela Bräuning and chemist Jörn Felix Lübben – is working to develop intelligent textiles. The special thing about these textiles is that their pores open actively as soon as the body increasingly gives off heat and moisture. This is made possible by so-called thermo-responsive polymers that are applied to the pores of the textile. These polymers are special plastic molecules that change their size depending on the temperature. If the temperature in the tissue exceeds a critical value, the polymers contract, resulting in the pores of the textile opening – thus allowing a controlled exchange of air and heat. At low temperatures, the polymers expand and close the pores. They only open again when both the temperature and the moisture content of the air exceed a specified minimum value.
As part of the project, Bräuning and Lübben, along with their team, proceed in multiple steps: first, they select the most suitable commercially available thermo-responsive polymers for their purposes and apply them to textiles using various methods. The treated textile fabric is then tested and optimised until prototypes of temperature- and moisture-regulating textiles can ultimately be developed and produced. The intelligent textiles will be used primarily in outdoor clothing, occupational safety and health or medical fields of application.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting the research project with about 648,000 euros within the framework of the FHprofUnt funding line as part of the Research at Universities of Applied Sciences programme.