Smart Wearable Thermal Management VO2 Coated Textile for Thermochromic and Sensing Applications

This letter presents a novel approach to smart thermal management by integrating vanadium dioxide (VO2)-coated textiles by sol-gel technique, which presents excellent thermochromic sensing functionalities by undergoing a reversible phase transition, leading to adaptive heat modulation. The morphology was investigated using a field-emission scanning electron microscope, which showed that VO2 was uniformly coated across textile substrates. The consequence of X-ray diffraction displayed a semicrystalline nature, and energy-dispersive X-ray studies showed the presence of V and O species, indicating high purity. Moreover, VO2-coated fabric (6 cm x 5 cm) with a thickness of 0.29 mm showed very good flexibility, breathability, and less tearing strength properties. Furthermore, it showed a high emissivity of 0.966 at high temperatures and a low emissivity of 0.464 at room temperature, proving its potential for energy-efficient smart textile, environmental monitoring, thermochromic, and sensing applications.