Investigation of thermal comfort in nanofibrous three‐layer fabric for cold weather protective clothing

The development of functional nanofiber materials with high specific surface area and porosity has been a highly interesting field of research in recent years due to its versatile properties for diverse applications. The combination of nanofibers into material clothes can open up new opportunities to improve comfort performance and thermal management properties. In this work, we demonstrated that the porous lightweight nanofibrous membrane could be coated on the fabric and laminated to improve its thermal comfort. The polyacrylonitrile was electrospun onto the surface of the polyester fabric with three different fineness and laminated with a warp knitted interlining in a controlled condition by sewing/fusing. The effect of the nanofibers diameter, sewing and fusing process on thermal insulation, air permeability, breathability, and water resistance of the obtained three‐layer samples were studied. The results showed that the presence of the nanofibers thin layer could improve the thermal comfort by controlling the studied parameters compared to the external face fabric as control. It was obtained that the fusing technique is more efficient than sewing for this purpose. The fused samples are waterproof and windproof, while instantly venting moisture and had good thermal insulation to protect the body from cold. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:2032–2040, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers