Porous spongy FexCo1-xP nanostructure and MXene infused self-powered flexible textile based personal thermoregulatory device

ABSTRACT A low-power-consuming, self-powered wearable personal thermal management (PTM) device could minimize our reliability on external power sources. Herein, we describe the fabrication of a self-powered PTM device providing thermotherapy that can be wirelessly heated, with warmth preservation and heat produced via the triboelectric effect. Initially, ferromagnetic porous spongy FexCo1−xP nanostructures were synthesized uniformly over the surface of woven Kevlar fiber (WKF). Synthesized MXene was then dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and prepared as a composite with WKF/FexCo1−xP. The combined effect of MXene and FexCo1−xP resulted in very effective Joule heating (74°C at 3 V), and the ferromagnetic behavior of the composite induced wireless heating. The dense interrelated porous structure created by MXene incorporation helped to maintain body warmth (an enhancement of 40.1% compared with bare WKF/PDMS) by reflecting almost all of the infrared radiation (97.7%) back to the body. The composite also exhibited high impact resistance (131.4% compared with WKF/PDMS) for use as smart body armor. Additionally, the PTM device exhibited a maximum power density of 1.3 mW cm−2 at a low impact frequency of 5 Hz and was capable of harvesting energy from human motion and wind, indicating a potential self-heating ability of the PTM composite.