@article{Xie2026, 
author = {An-Quan Xie and Wangkai Jiang and Hui Qiu and Xin-Long Qian and Ghim Wei Ho and Ke-Qin Zhang and Xiao-Qiao Wang},
title = {Self-regulated bidirectional temperature gradients in radiation-modulated fabrics for diurnal thermal comfort management and energy harvesting},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {19},
number = {3},
pages = {94908271},
keywords = {blow spinning, fabrics, thermal management, smart wearables, energy harvesting},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94908271},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94908271},
abstract = {Harvesting low-grade heat from both human metabolism and environmental waste through thermoelectric fabrics offers a sustainable pathway for wearable power generation. However, a critical challenge exists in establishing substantial temperature differentials for continuous thermoelectric generation while maintaining physiologically comfortable skin temperatures in dynamically variable environments. Herein, we present a dynamic radiation-modulated sandwich-structured fabric capable of diurnally adaptive operation that simultaneously enables thermal comfort regulation and thermoelectric energy harvesting. Based on a parallel dual-spinneret blow-spinning technique, we engineer all-fibrous thermoelectric fabrics with asymmetric multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and silver nanowire (AgNW) electrodes. The optimized sandwich fabric achieves an out-of-plane temperature gradient (ΔT) of 9 °C under 1 kW·m−2 daytime solar irradiation and −5 °C at night (ambient temperature of 28 °C), while maintaining skin-contact temperatures within the physiological comfort range (35.5–38.3 °C). Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that these self-regulated bidirectional temperature gradients result from asymmetric optical absorption/emission properties between the MWCNT top layer (solar absorptance αsolar = 91%, mid-infrared emissivity εMIR = 87%) and the AgNW bottom layer (αsolar = 18%, εMIR = 20%). This effect is synergistically enhanced by the hierarchical porous fibrous interlayer with confined thermal transfer. Outdoor experiments demonstrate stable diurnal operation for thermal comfort and energy harvesting, generating a peak voltage of 20 mV through modular integration of sandwich fabrics.}
}