Environmentally Friendly Waterproof and Breathable Nanofiber Membranes with Thermal Regulation Performance by One-Step Electrospinning

The waterproof and moisture permeable fabric with thermal regulation not only has the protective function for human body, but also meets the comfort of human clothing, which is a challenging and innovative research. Herein, we report an environmentally friendly, simple, and high-efficiency strategy to fabricate waterproof and breathable nanofiber membranes with outstanding thermal regulation ability by introducing stearic acid (SA) into the hydrophobic siliceous polyurethane (SIPU) solution by a facile one-step electrospinning. Owing to the addition of SA, the waterproofness of SIPU/SA nanofiber membranes is greatly improved, meanwhile, the addition of SA acted as a phase change material to impart temperature regulation performance in appropriate temperature range to the SIPU/SA nanofiber membranes. By adjusting the addition amount of the SA, eco-friendly and multifunctional SIPU/SA nanofiber membranes are systemically optimized with good waterproofness (79 kPa), moisture breathability (8.0 kg m −2 d −1 ), and outstanding temperature regulation performance (latent heat up to 40 J/g), satisfied tensile strength (6.2 MPa) and excellent breaking elongation of 182 %. The obtained SIPU/SA nanofiber membranes can be suitable for the design of multifunctional wearable textiles for various applications, especially in outdoor protective clothing, medical clothing, intelligent clothing and military products.