Introducing a Method for Evaluating Fabric Performance against Human Body Thermal Radiation

More than half of the body's metabolic heat is dissipated to the environment as infrared radiation. Consequently, the design and development of textiles that modulate infrared radiation to provide localized heating or cooling have recently gained significant attention for enhancing thermal comfort. However, evaluating the performance of such textiles often requires specialized and costly methods. This study introduces a novel approach for assessing the optical properties of fabrics in the infrared region by utilizing Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy data and calculating key scattering parameters. The calculated spectra demonstrated that fabric samples incorporating 1% and 2% aluminum (designated PA1 and PA2) reflect more than 40% of human body radiation near the skin, thereby effectively inhibiting radiative heat loss to the environment. The significant apparent temperature difference observed for these samples confirmed their potential as effective radiative heating textiles. The findings indicate that the proposed method offers a viable and accessible alternative for the relative evaluation and comparison of textile thermal radiation properties, especially in settings where advanced instrumentation like an integrating sphere is unavailable.