Thermal, Waterproof, Breathable, and Antibacterial Cloth with a Nanoporous Structure

Wearable thermal management materials have attracted increasing attention because of the potential in energy conservation and the possibility to meet the need of smart clothes. An ideal cloth for cold areas has to be lightweight, warm, waterproof but breathable, and antibacterial. Herein, we present a multifunctional cloth starting from a cotton fabric, for which one side is modified to be superhydrophobic by introducing a silica nanoparticle/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer, while the other side is coated with a nanoporous cellulose acetate layer followed by depositing a thin silver film. The porosity allows the fabric to be breathable, and the silver film plays three important roles as a perfect infrared reflector, a flexible heater, and an antibacterial layer. Such a multifunctional fabric might be potentially useful in outdoor coats and other facilities.