Thermal regulation of electrically conducting fabrics

Abstract

Most recently, thermal garment, one of the most popular topics in wearable electronic textiles, is on the rise in personal and business use. Ag (silver)/nylon yarns, which use nylon as the substrate with silver coated on it, are the most selected conductive yarns for a thermal garment in the market. In this chapter, the electromechanical property and electrothermal property of Ag/nylon yarns are fully discussed, and the resistive network model is proposed in resistance calculation of conductive fabrics. With knowledge of conductive yarns' properties and the thermal equilibrium of conductive fabrics, thermal control of conductive fabrics can be achieved. In the end, the selection of high-quality conductive Ag/nylon yarns and the testing methods are introduced.