Smart textiles, enabled by innovations in functional fibers and advanced material design, are revolutionizing thermal management within the human micro-environment. This review comprehensively examines the latest advancements in wearable passive thermal management (PTM) technologies, which synergistically regulate body temperature and harvest wasted thermal energy. By elucidating heat transfer mechanisms—including radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation—we emphasize the critical role of textiles in modulating these pathways to achieve personal thermal comfort and energy sustainability. Key material strategies, such as radiative-controlled fibers for solar reflection and infrared emission, phase change materials (PCMs) for latent heat storage, and thermally conductive/insulative fibers for dynamic regulation, have been explored. The integration of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) into textiles is highlighted, demonstrating their potential to convert body heat into electrical energy through Seebeck and thermogalvanic effects. Emerging technologies, including Janus fabrics with switchable radiative properties and humidity-responsive fibers, further enhance adaptability across diverse environments. Notably, the incorporation of machine learning frameworks and AI-driven design paradigms has accelerated the development of predictive thermal models and optimized nanostructures, bridging laboratory innovations with industrial scalability. Challenges in durability, comfort, and large-scale manufacturing are critically addressed, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. This review underscores the transformative potential of fiber-based PTM systems in reducing the reliance on energy-intensive heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, advancing sustainable micro-environment solutions, and powering next-generation wearable electronics. Future perspectives emphasize intelligent material systems, ethical AI integration, and multifunctional textile architectures to realize personalized comfort and global energy sustainability.

Overview of wearable passive thermal management systems

Neural cell senescence hinders spinal cord nerve function recovery, and existing therapies that target senescent cell clearance haven’t effectively addressed cellular senescence. In this study, injectable short fibers that accurately maintain genome homeostasis in real time were developed, which for the first time reversed neural cell senescence by blocking the excessive intervention of cell inspection points. First, the oxidization-sensitive hybrid liposomes were prepared by combining Bakuchiol (BAK), a natural plant extract with the ability of DNA protection, with the oxidization-sensitive phospholipid S-PC. Subsequently, the short fibers regulating the cell inspection points (ISN@n-BAK) were constructed by further complexing the oxidation-sensitive hybrid liposomes with short fibers through π–π conjugation and catechol groups mussel-stimulated polydopamine (PDA). In vitro experiments demonstrated that ISN@n-BAK promotes neural stem cell differentiation into neurons and has anti-aging effects across various aging stages. In vivo, ISN@n-BAK responded to excessive ROS by triggering oxidation-sensitive liposomes to release BAK, protecting against DNA damage, suppressing aging-related gene expression in Cdkn2a and Cdkn2c and inhibiting inspection point restrictions. Bioinformatics showed that ISN@n-BAK reversed neural cell senescence and aided spinal cord nerve regeneration by activating the endogenous cell cycle, downregulating the PI3K-Akt pathway and upregulating the Rap1 pathway. This study introduces a novel therapeutic approach using short fibers that inhibit inspection points intervention to rejuvenate injured spinal cords.

With the progress of flexible wearables, electronic devices have evolved from three-dimensional bulk materials and two-dimensional films to flexible one-dimensional fiber structures. Amongst all, alternating current electroluminescent (ACEL) fibers have received increasing attention due to their flexibility, weavability, and human-body compatibility. Nevertheless, ACEL still faces great challenges in achieving efficient color modulation, continuous preparation and device integration. Herein, a novel color-tunable ACEL fiber based on fluorescent dye-mediated omnidirectional color conversion is presented, where continuous deposition of functional materials is achieved by conjugated electrospinning and solution dip-coating techniques. Such fiber achieves uniform omnidirectional light emission while maintaining exceptional flexibility, mechanical durability, and water resistance, with additional color conversion capability. Together, these synergistic properties make them ideally suited for integration into smart textiles through weaving or hand embroidery processes. In addition, these ACEL fibers have been successfully integrated with sound sensors featuring speech recognition and volume detection, an advancement that paves the way for visual and barrier-free communication solutions for the hearing-impaired individuals, as well as early warning systems in high-noise environments. Overall, this work provides a new technological paradigm for textile-based wearable full-color displays with significant scientific and practical value in smart wearables, interactive e-textiles, and intelligent human–machine interfaces.

The development of intelligent textiles that integrate impact protection with real-time sensing capabilities is of critical importance for next-generation wearable protective systems. Despite extensive usage of conventional protective films/elastomers, their inherent planar geometries compromise wearing comfort, and the universal absence of real-time impact detection/location capabilities restricts application prospects. To address these challenges, an intelligent shear-stiffening-based mechanoluminescent fiber (ML-TPS) is developed through integrated wet-spinning and coating technology. This fiber combines a shear-stiffening polymer core with a ZnS:Cu/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mechanoluminescent coating, synergistically enabling excellent impact resistance and spatiotemporal force visualization. The resultant 4 mm-thick ML-TPS fabric maintains exceptional flexibility, breathability, and high impact energy dissipation (efficiency > 90%) while demonstrating rapid damage localization (response time < 6 ms) and quantitative impact assessment (R² = 0.95 linear correlation), surpassing conventional materials in temporal resolution. The fabricated visual sensing matrix enables visual localization, showing unique advantages in scenarios requiring rapid impact response, such as sports protection and personal safety. Finally, the multi-scenario applicability of ML-TPS fibers is demonstrated through human motion monitoring and underwater warning validation. This work provides a new paradigm for developing active protection-type intelligent wearable systems.

To enhance the comfort and impact resistance of protective materials while enabling real-time impact visualization, ML-TPS fibers consisting of ZnS:Cu/PDMS shell layers and shear-stiffening polymer cores were developed. Smart textiles based on these fibers offer efficient protection and instant impact localization, making them ideal for rapid-response applications, such as sports safety and personal protection. Finally, the versatility of ML-TPS fibers across various scenarios is demonstrated through human motion monitoring and impact-triggered early warning capabilities.

Integrating passive radiative cooling techniques with wearable fabrics has gained prominence in addressing global warming-induced energy demands, environmental concerns, and health risks due to their superior and practical personal thermal management capabilities. However, conventional passive radiative fabrics are normally static, thereby failing to dynamically respond to ever-changing and uncontrollable environmental conditions, posing significant challenges to dynamic regulation in personal thermal management. Herein, inspired by the multilayered architecture of the bright silver scales of Curetis Acuta Moore, an electrospun sandwich structure is developed, which integrates passive radiative cooling and latent heat storage, concurrently achieving sub-ambient cooling and efficient thermal shock resistance. The sandwich biodegradable phase-change metafabric (SBPM) is developed that achieves excellent radiative cooling performance with a sub-ambient temperature drop of 6.8 °C under sunlight, including ultrahigh solar reflectance (97.2%) and infrared emittance (92.3%). The average temperature rises 1.8 °C above the ambient temperature due to the phase-change material releasing latent heat when the temperature is lower than the comfortable temperature of the human body. Furthermore, supported by comprehensive life cycle assessment, this efficient cooling textile demonstrates biodegradability while maintaining a reduced environmental footprint. The temperature-adaptive SBPM enables self-adaptive radiative cooling modulation, establishing a versatile platform for smart multifunctional fabrics that facilitate precision human–climate interaction in real-world scenarios.

Biomass-derived self-supporting carbon materials are considered promising cathodes for zinc-ion capacitors owing to their structural tunability and cost-effectiveness. Natural ramie fibers form a 3D interpenetrating network, which provides excellent mechanical support for flexible electrodes. However, conventional high-temperature activation often induces structural collapse. Although surface etching preserves flexible frameworks, it limits pore development, resulting in underutilized surface area and poor pore-carrier compatibility. These limitations create a trade-off between electrochemical performance and structural flexibility. This study presents a top–down intercalation activation strategy for precise pore regulation in natural plant fiber-derived carbon. To completely preserve the flexible fiber skeleton, this approach successfully constructs an interconnected hierarchical channel system, which effectively reduces the ion diffusion barrier. Consequently, the flexible electrode exhibits abundant defect structures and a high specific surface area of 2477 m² g⁻¹, which is 50 times that of directly carbonized ramie fibers. These features significantly increase the number of active sites available for charge storage. The assembled zinc-ion hybrid capacitor exhibits an excellent specific capacity of 212 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.2 A g⁻¹ and an energy density of 168 Wh kg⁻¹, and retains 91% of its capacity after 50,000 cycles. Notably, the assembled flexible device maintains normal operations under multi-angle bending conditions, indicating excellent stability. The proposed strategy provides an innovative approach for the precise regulation of pore size in biomass-derived carbon fibers and enables the efficient preparation of other cellulose-based self-supporting carbon materials.

The rapid development of miniaturized and high-power electronics urgently demands multifunctional materials that simultaneously mitigate thermal shock and electromagnetic interference (EMI). While phase change materials (PCMs) offer thermal buffering capabilities, their limited thermal conductivity and inability to address EMI restrict applications in integrated electronic systems. Herein, we develop multi-interfacial engineered composite PCMs (PW–MXene/CNFs@MoS₂) that synergistically integrate thermal management and electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption. Through hierarchical assembly of 2D MXene and MoS₂ nanosheets on a 3D carbon nanofiber (CNF) network, composite PCMs achieve synergistic dual functionality. The architecture establishes an efficient phonon conductive framework for rapid thermal dissipation, while maintaining remarkable heat storage capacity of 121.8 J/g. Additionally, polarization-enhanced heterointerfaces enable excellent EMW absorption (− 64.1 dB reflection loss across 4.28 GHz bandwidth below 2.1 mm). The composite PCMs also exhibit outstanding cyclic stability, retaining 97% of their phase change enthalpy after 300 thermal cycles, while maintaining superior leakage resistance under combined thermal and mechanical stresses. Practical validation reveals its dual functionality: a 6.4 °C thermal buffer under 1200 W/m² thermal shock and effective Bluetooth signal shielding. This work provides an innovative solution for the synergistic management of thermal shock and electromagnetic interference issues, showing viable potential for applications in advanced electronic systems.

High-performance flexible pressure sensors are crucial electronic components for a diverse array of Internet of Things applications. In real-world scenarios, flexible sensors demonstrate significant promise by effectively detecting subtle anomalous signals from any direction. This study presents a straightforward preparation process for a biodegradable omnidirectional intelligent sensing carpet, inspired by the multi-contact structure of anthozoans. The developed sensor is constructed from conductive polyaniline (PANI) that has been modified through in situ polymerization on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) multi-contact structured materials (CNTs@PANI), combined with an eco-friendly bio-based polyurethane urea (BDPU) flexible substrate. This unique combination enables omnidirectional and stable pressure detection, making it suitable for intelligent monitoring applications of home carpets. The resulting smart carpet based on a pressure sensor exhibits remarkable performance characteristics, including high sensitivity, low monitoring limit, and rapid response and recovery times. Importantly, the sensor notably demonstrates omnidirectional responsiveness, effectively detecting signals from multiple directions while ensuring consistent sensing performance even after self-healing during subsequent use. This sensor also supports the recovery and reuse of the CNTs@PANI conductive materials within it. This innovative, efficient, and versatile sensor is anticipated to find widespread application in multi-scenario monitoring systems.

Inspired by the multi-contact structures of anthozoans, this study presents a biodegradable omnidirectional intelligent sensing carpet, incorporating conductive polyaniline modified via in situ polymerization on carbon nanotubes, and featuring a flexible substrate made from bio-based polyurethane urea.

Vascular grafts are commonly used to treat acute injuries and chronic atherosclerotic diseases of the vasculature. However, the pathological environment of injured vessels is characterized by oxidative stress and severe inflammatory flares, which usually lead to insufficient vascular regeneration and poor pathological remodeling, with far from satisfactory graft results. Here, we innovatively engineered a nanocarbon supporting porous Ru-porphyrin-based nanobiocatalyst functionalized vascular graft (SPPorRu@PCL) via electrospinning technology. Our studies demonstrate that the SPPorRu@PCL has ultrafast and broad-spectrum reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability due to the highly active π-conjugated Ru–N catalytic site, π–π stacking effect, and porous structure of loaded SPPorRu, which synergistically enhances its electron transfer ability and catalytic kinetics. Strikingly, in vitro cellular experiments demonstrate that the SPPorRu@PCL is effective in alleviating oxidative stress, reducing damage of DNA and mitochondrial, and promoting cell adhesion for human umbilical vein endothelial cells in a high-ROS environment. Implantation of SPPorRu@PCL in vascular-injured rats further demonstrates its superior biocompatibility, anti-inflammatory and provascular repair capabilities. This work provides important insights into the application of the porous nanocarbon and the π-conjugated porphyrin-based Ru–N coordination nanobiocatalyst assembled on nanocarbons in catalytically scavenging ROS and offers new strategies to design high-performance artificial antioxidant functionalized vascular grafts for the treatment of blood vessel injury diseases.

Electrical stimulation could effectively promote the repair of peripheral nerve injuries. However, traditional electrical stimulation requires external devices and connections, inevitably causing unnecessary discomfort and infection risks for patients. Thus, to ensure clinical safety and support neural regeneration, a dual-functional cellulose-based peripheral nerve conduit with both piezoelectric and conductive properties is developed by incorporating barium titanate (BTO) and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) onto the surface of expanded bacterial cellulose. The electroactive conduit not only provides suitable mechanical support and stability to ensure structural integrity in vivo, but also encourages macrophage polarization into the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype after 2 weeks of post-implantation. Furthermore, the piezoelectric properties provided by BTO convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, which, in synergy with the conductive PEDOT, enables the conduit to stimulate nerve regeneration by mimicking bioelectric signals with an output voltage of 8.22 mV and output current of 2.05 μA at compression distances of 1.0 mm. After implantation into a sciatic nerve defect model, this conduit significantly reduces atrophy of the gastrocnemius muscle and accelerates the regeneration of sciatic nerve by facilitating the transmission of neural electrical signals. In summary, this artificial peripheral nerve conduit possesses excellent repair capacity for nerve defects, hence holding attractive prospects for clinical application.

Natural soft systems capable of reversible shape morphing are ubiquitous in living organisms, enabling remarkable multifunctionality such as continuous motions, dexterous manipulation, and adaptive camouflage. However, replicating these capabilities in synthetic materials remains challenging, primarily due to sophisticated mechanical control, restrictive design flexibility, and limited robustness and scalability. Here, we propose a structure-driven design framework to encode the knitted shells with spatially localized strain constraints for soft robotic systems and mimetic camouflage morphing solely by controlling stitch geometry. By leveraging experiments and theoretical analysis, we decouple the effects of stitch-level topology and yarn composition on fabric macromechanical behavior and achieve programmable mechanical responses in knitted shells through geometric tuning. This also enables robust control of non-Euclidean shape morphing in soft textile robotics, including multi-mode inflatable deformation, sequential motion under a single stimulus, and predefined flat-to-shape Gaussian transformations for dynamic mimetic camouflage. This geometry-informed design strategy can provide new insights into scalable, low-cost and customized soft textile robotics for multifunctional applications, such as tailored wearable devices, camouflage gear skin, and human–robot interactions that are resistant to environmental disturbances.

A structure-driven design framework is presented to encode the knitted shells with customized local strain constraint for soft knit robotic systems and mimetic camouflage morphing. This structure-driven design can provide new insights to develop robust, scalable, and low-cost soft robotics for multifunctional applications in tailored wearable devices, versatile camouflage gear skin, and safe human-machine interactions.

Ammonia (NH₃) is the second-most-produced chemical worldwide and has numerous industrial applications. However, such applications pose significant risks, as evidenced by human casualties caused by NH₃ leaks or poisoning in confined environments. This highlights the critical need for highly portable and intuitive wearable NH₃ sensors. The chemiresistive sensors are widely employed in wearable devices due to their simple structure, high sensitivity, and short response times, but are prone to malfunctioning and inaccurate gas detection because of the corrosion or failure of the sensing material under the influence of humidity, high temperatures, and interfering gas species. Addressing these limitations, a gas-sensing platform with a polymer-based nanofiber structure has been developed, providing flexibility and facilitating efficient transport of NH₃ between the colorimetric (bromocresol-green-based) and chemiresistive (poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate)-based) sensing layers. This dual-mode design enables reliable NH₃ detection. The NH₃-sensing performance of each individual layer is comparable to that of the dual-mode gas-sensing platform, which operates effectively even when attached to human skin and in humid environments. Therefore, this study establishes a robust, selective, and reproducible NH₃ sensor for diverse applications and introduces an innovative sensor engineering paradigm.

Nanocomposite technology is recognized as a general and effective strategy to enhance the performance of flexible energy storage devices. However, the enhancement of flexible batteries in nanocomposites is usually much lower than expected, which is mainly attributed to the poor interfacial interactions between active material and conductive substrate as well as sluggish Na⁺ diffusion kinetics and complex assembly techniques. It remains a huge challenge to simultaneously achieve good mechanical properties, excellent electrochemical performance, and high safety in flexible batteries. Here, we developed an interface engineering strategy to prepare a high-strength and high-toughness quasi-solid fiber battery using direct ink writing 3D printing, which was achieved by introducing borate ester dynamic crosslinking as bridging interaction with self-healing properties. This configuration exhibited a remarkably enhanced energy density (104 Wh kg⁻¹) and high power density (20.8 W kg⁻¹), with excellent strain (exceeding 25%) and outstanding thermal stability (200 °C), which exceeds those of previously reported. Density functional theory calculations further reveal the mechanism by which the interface engineering-based borate ester dynamic crosslinking affects the performance of fiber battery. Based on this excellent performance, fiber batteries are woven into a mobile phone pouch for wireless charging of wearable electronic devices. This work provides an effective route toward high-performance flexible energy storage devices for a broad range of applications.

Firefighting clothing provides essential safeguards for firefighters while engaging in fire suppression and life rescue operations. However, the inability to actively detect hazardous gas and self-thermal degradation of conventional firefighting clothing induce critical safety threats to firefighters. Herein, we design a dual-mode perceptual sensor via programmable assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and Ti₃C₂T_x MXene@MoS₂ nanocomposite in dual-mode triaxial structural aerogel fiber (DM-TSF) for both selective NH₃ and temperature monitoring. The DM-TSF is prepared through triaxial wet spinning, with an alternating p/n-type thermoelectric (TE) core, a signal decoupling aramid nanofibers layer, and an NH₃ sensing outer sheath. The TE core is composed of alternately interconnected p-type/SWCNT and n-type SWCNT/Polyethyleneimine, which exhibits high TE efficiency (8.44 μV K⁻¹ for p-segment, 7.44 μV K⁻¹ for n-segment) and wide-range (10–500 °C) temperature monitoring in DM-TSF. Furthermore, the abundant adsorption sites and high-density Schottky heterojunctions of the Ti₃C₂T_x MXene@MoS₂ nanocomposite in the outer sheath enabled DM-TSF to exhibit an outstanding sensitivity (3.14% ppm⁻¹@20 ppm) and high selectivity for NH₃. A portable wireless system based on DM-TSF was further developed and integrated into firefighting clothing for temperature and NH₃ monitoring, triggering alarms within 2 s and 28 s, respectively. This work sheds new light on the fabrication of intelligent multiplex hazard detection fibers that can respond to multi-hazard elements, thereby enhancing firefighters’ safety in complex fire scenarios.

Sunlight-driven catalysis has been recognized as a prospective strategy to achieve efficient wastewater purification, but its widespread adoption is hampered by persistent challenges, including unsatisfactory catalytic performance and difficult recovery of powdery catalysts. Addressing these limitations, we present a self-floating S-scheme Bi₄O₅Br₂/C₃N₄/carbon fiber cloth (BiBr/CN/CC) heterojunction-a robust, recyclable photocatalyst engineered for safe and efficient degradation of aquaculture antibiotics. This hierarchical architecture features a conductive carbon fiber cloth (CC) core enveloped by Bi₄O₅Br₂/C₃N₄ (BiBr/CN) nanosheets, synergistically combining buoyancy, practical recoverability, and superior photocatalytic performance. The S-scheme configuration between Bi₄O₅Br₂ and C₃N₄ directs photogenerated electrons from BiBr to CN via a robust internal electric field (IEF), preserving optimal redox capacities, contributing to abundant ROS generation for photoreactions. Accordingly, BiBr/CN/CC displays the exceptional photocatalytic activity for oxytetracycline (OTC) destruction, with an OTC destruction rate of (0.0120 min^‒1), significantly exceeding BiBr/CC (0.0085 min^‒1) and CN/CC (0.0051 min^‒1) by 0.4 and 1.4 times, respectively. More significantly, BiBr/CN/CC manifests excellent practicality due to its effortless recovery and operation, excellent robustness, and good environmental adaptability. Furthermore, the OTC decomposition process and intermediates’ eco-toxicity, along with the photocatalysis mechanism are thoroughly explored. This research underscores the significance of devising self-floating, recyclable and high-performance photocatalysts for water decontamination.

A floatable macroscopic Bi₄O₅Br₂/C₃N₄/carbon fiber cloth heterojunction was engineered to address the critical challenges of unsatisfactory catalytic performance and recyclability in photocatalytic water purification. This innovative architecture integrates Bi₄O₅Br₂ nanosheets and C₃N₄ layers onto a carbon cloth, synergizing the advantages of a hierarchical structure, built-in buoyancy, and S-scheme charge transfer dynamics. This fabric manifests intriguing prospects for practical application, advancing the design of recyclable S-scheme heterojunctions for environmental remediation

Enhancing the mechanical performance of synthetic fibers is pursued in aerospace, wearable devices, and protective textiles. However, current reinforcement methods rely on the chemical modification of polymer stock, introducing greater complexity and processing challenge. In this work, the mechanical properties of different aramid fibers and their composite fibers are improved through a cool spinning strategy. By reducing the coagulation temperature to –25 °C, the interactions between polymer chains and solvent molecules are substantially enhanced, thereby improving the drawability of the polymer solution. The draw ratio markedly increases typically from 200% to 380%, leading to optimized oriented and crystalline structures. Consequently, the tensile strength, Young’s modulus and toughness of large-diameter heterocyclic para-aramid fibers increase by 112%, 123% and 118%, respectively. The cool spinning proposal is further applied to 36-μm-thick heterocyclic para-aramid/graphene oxide composite fibers, realizing elevated tensile strength, Young’s modulus and toughness of 6.28 GPa, 119.62 GPa and 172.7 MJ⋅m⁻³, respectively. This strategy is also applicable to meta-aramid fibers, where tensile strength increases up to 1.35 GPa. The simple and universal cool spinning approach opens an avenue towards the preparation of high-performance fibers and composite fibers for structural and functional applications.

A new cool spinning strategy for aramid fibers is proposed by reducing the coagulation temperature. This strategy dramatically enhances the interactions between polymer and solvent molecules, thereby increasing the draw ratio. It enables the preparation of different high-performance aramid fibers and their composite fibers with substantially improved tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and toughness.