This study investigates carbon nanotube textiles as advanced personal protection equipment for
firefighters and first responders. Carbon nanotubes are lightweight, flame resistant, and possess high
mechanical and thermal properties. Carbon nanotubes are also thermally anisotropic, meaning they
easily conduct heat along the axis of an individual tube, and are relatively insulating across the tube's
diameter. By recognizing this anisotropic behavior, heat transfer through a layer of aligned carbon
nanotubes in a garment can be partially redirected to a cold reservoir thereby protecting the wearer
from heat stress and exhaustion. Finite element models were developed to simulate a carbon nanotube
layer embedded in a firefighting garment and thermally connected to a cold reservoir. Simulation showed
that under heat stress conditions, firefighter skin temperature was considerably reduced by the cooling
layer.
