Cold protective clothing with reflective nano-fibrous interlayers for improved comfort

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop multilayer clothing assemblies consisting of fibrous battings and reflective nano-fibrous thin layers for cold protective clothing for improved thermal insulation. Design/methodology/approach: Thermal insulation values of totally 20 assemblies made of varying layers of a thick polyester batting and four different types of thin interlayers were measured using a guarded hot-plate to investigate the effect of the properties of thin interlayers and construction of multilayer assemblies on thermal insulation. Cold protective jackets filled with polyester battings sandwiched with or without interlayers were also made and tested on the sweating fabric manikin-Walter. Findings: Results show that the Rosseland mean extinction coefficients of the thin interlayer and the associated radiative thermal conductivity of the interlayers have significant influence on thermal insulation of the assembly when more than one reflective nano-fibrous interlayers are sandwiched in the assembly. The cold protective jacket filled with multilayer polyester battings and reflective nano-fibrous interlayers have better thermal insulation and moisture permeability index (i<DN>m</DN>) than those filled with the same multilayer polyester battings, but with non-reflective nonwoven interlayers or without interlayers. Originality/value: This paper clearly demonstrates the advantages of reflective nano-fibrous thin material for interlayers in the cold projective jacket. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.