Review of clothing for thermal management with advanced materials

Recent advances in the clothing for thermal management have opened up prospects for exploration of its fundamental physical properties and practical applications to humans. Heat transfer between human skin and environment is mainly dependent on the synergetic effect of environment temperature, atmosphere motion, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity and the clothing. New materials and structures should be exploited to fabricate advanced textiles and clothing having light weight and flexibility as well as excellent thermal management. This article aims to review recent progress in the development of thermal management textiles, focusing on strategies that use advanced materials to control the heat transfer between the human body and the environment. This review details three mechanisms for managing heat transfer. According to these mechanisms, three main strategies based on novel materials and structures will be demonstrated in detail. In addition, thermal management clothing with supplied power is also discussed. Advantages and drawbacks of different types of clothing will be discussed. Moreover, different systems and devices for evaluating the performance of thermal management textiles are summarized. Finally, some perspectives on thermal management clothing are provided for future research.