Abstract
Phase-change materials (PCMs) demonstrate transformative potential for wearable thermal management systems; however, their practical implementation faces challenges due to trade-offs among energy storage density, mechanical robustness, and phase-change stability. Here, we present a nanotechnology-directed strategy that integrates ultralow carbon nanotubes (CNT, 0.1 wt.%) scaffolds with three-dimensional (3D) interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs), achieving remarkable synergy between crystallinity control and thermal regulation. The resultant phase-change fibers (PCFs) demonstrate dual-functional optimization. Firstly, they exhibit excellent latent heat storage (∆Hm = 139.0 J·g-1, ∆Hc = 138.0 J·g-1) with remarkable thermal stability, enabled by CNT-induced heterogeneous nucleation. Secondly, the PCFs show high mechanical robustness (ɛ = 1530%, σ = 6.32 MPa) and photothermal energy harvesting efficiency (η = 90.5%, at 120 mW·cm-2). These enhancements are attributed to CNT network-enhanced interfacial thermal coupling. Furthermore, the fibrous architectures enable high-fidelity (>98%) cutting/sewing during textile manufacturing, facilitating scalable production of energy-efficient thermal-regulating fabrics. This establishes a universal framework for scalable smart textiles and bridges the gap between laboratory-level phase-change engineering and industrial-scale wearable thermal systems. This strategy advances the development of self-regulating textiles with on-demand thermal responsiveness, paving the way for next-generation smart fabrics for energy-efficient personal thermal management.
Data availability
The data generated and analyzed during this study are provided in the main text and the Supplementary Information. All data are also available from the corresponding author upon request. Source data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.31025938.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this research from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2020YFA0210701), the China National Petroleum Corporation-Peking University Strategic Cooperation Project of Functional Research, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 52475001). We would like to express our gratitude to the Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Peking University, for their assistance with SEM and XRD characterization. We sincerely acknowledge the Analytical Instrumentation Center, Peking University, for their professional assistance with HRTEM characterization. We are also deeply grateful to Professor Qian Wang from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Peking University for his valuable guidance and advice regarding the MD simulations in this work. All authors participated in a thorough discussion of the results and analysis of the data, and approved the submission of the final version.
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X.G. was responsible for the study conception, experimental design, theoretical calculations, data analysis, and writing the initial manuscript. Z.W. collaborated on performing the experiments and data analysis. F.X. assisted with structural characterization. L.L. contributed to the preparation and weaving of fabric-based materials. Z.Z., Y.J., M.Q., J.S., and S.G. contributed to data collection and validation. Y.W. provided technical support. Q.W. and R.Z. supervised the project, coordinated the collaboration, and critically revised the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and approved the final manuscript.
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Geng, X., Wang, Z., Xiong, F. et al. Ultralow CNT-reinforced phase-change fibers for scalable wearable thermoregulation. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68951-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68951-x
