Biomass-derived sustainable polylactic acid nanofiber nonwovens for personalized healthcare and thermal management

Polylactic acid (PLA) fiber as a biodegradable and renewable material derived from crop biomass resources such as corn starch, which serves as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional petroleum-based synthetic fibers. However, developing flexible smart PLA textiles with intelligent and multi-functions remains a great challenge due to the poor stimuli-response ability of crop-based biomaterials. In this work, a smart multi-responsive PLA nonwovens for personalized healthcare and thermal management was developed, via electrospinning 2D graphene nanosheets synergistic 1D carbon nanotubes(CNTs) responsive network into PLA nanofibers. Introducing hybrid dimensional graphene/CNTs network into PLA nanofibers not only endows it with excellent light stimulus response ability, but also acts as a crosslinker of PLA macromolecular chains which enhances its toughness and strength significantly. Furthermore, after further assembling continuous graphene/CNTs network on the surface of the PLA nanofibers induces the nonwovens to exhibit high electrical conductivity (25 Ω/sq), which not only possesses high electrical-stimulus response ability but also exhibits stable mechanical-stimulus response characteristics. The graphene/CNTs network enabled PLA nonwovens own smart responsiveness to multi stimuli including mechanical, electrical and light. The smart sustainable crop-based PLA nonwovens hold great promise in next-generation biocompatible wearable textiles for efficient personalized healthcare and thermal management. • Smart PLA nonwovens with personalized healthcare and thermal management was developed. • The Gr/CNTs network not only acts as PLA crosslinker but also imparting photothermal responsiveness. • Surface-engineered 3D conductive network was constructed on PLA surfaces via layer-by-layer assembly. • Smart PLA nonwovens with simultaneous responsiveness to mechanical strain, electrical/light stimuli. • Established renewable strategy to develop sustainable smart textiles, enabling eco-friendly wearable applications.