Assessment of the Thermoregulation Properties of Textiles with Fibres Containing Phase Change Materials on the Basis of Laboratory Experiments

The problem of thermal discomfort affects thousands of people. One of the ways of reducing this problem is introducing phase change materials, which have an ability to absorb the excess heat in protective clothing. In this research two kinds of knitted fabrics with phase change materials were designed and produced for use in under-barrier protective clothing. These products were tested for their biophysical properties ie. thermal resistance, water vapour resistance, air permeability and hygroscopicity, thermoregulation properties: a measurement of the enthalpy by the DSC method and measurement of the TRF factor on a device simulating human skin, and the sorptive properties. On the basis of the results(1)), the impact of the clothing designed containing phase change materials, on the underwear microclimate, with an indication of their ability of taking off excess heat was assessed.