Mechanically Durable Double-Sided Textile Composites Integrating Radiative Cooling and Dual-Function Heating for Year-Round Thermal Management

Integrating radiative cooling with on-demand heating is an efficient way to enable radiative cooling materials to adapt to year-round thermal management. However, most current thermal management materials are monofunctional and mechanically vulnerable, resulting in limited application scenarios and short service life. Herein, a mechanically durable double-sided textile composite is developed via a two-step coating of porous TPU/SiO2 and TPU/CNTs respectively on the sides of a fabric. The TPU/SiO2 side demonstrates a high reflectance (92%) and emittance (95%), resulting in average radiative cooling of 8.1 °C during the day and 9 °C at night. While the TPU/CNTs side exhibits a high solar absorptance (96%) which facilitates a temperature increase of 12.5 °C by solar heating during the day. Meanwhile, the outstanding electrical conductivity of 65 S/cm endows the TPU/CNTs side with Joule heating performance, achieving a temperature elevation of 14 °C at night via Joule heating. The radiative cooling and dual-function heating capabilities allow the textile composite for flexible thermal management throughout the day and under varying weather conditions. Most importantly, the textile composite exhibits favorable tensile strength and mechanical durability, enabling significant potential for long-term outdoor applications.