Abstract: Phase change materials (PCMs) used in firefighter protective clothing have the buffering effects towards high temperature gradients under flashover fire conditions. The paper reviews the current domestic and foreign research status of application of phase change materials for firefighter protective clothing. Two applications including heat stress decrease, improvement of thermal comfort performance and restraint temperature sudden change, improvement of thermal protective performanc are summarized. The flame retardant methods for organic wax PCMs are also introduced. We analyze the feasibility of restraining temperature sudden change resulting from PCMs used in firefighter protective clothing and predict the future study on the application of PCMs on firefighter protective clothing.

Key words: fire-fighting suit, phase change material, thermal protective performance, heat strain, sudden temperature change