Highly Elastic Phase Change Fibers for Wearable Solar-Thermal Regulation Textiles

Abstract

Applying phase change materials (PCMs) with huge thermal energy storage capacity and temperature control ability as the function medium of solar-thermal regulation textiles is of great value for the thermal management in cold environment, while hindered by the leakage, rigidity and poor light absorption. Therefore, we propose a novel highly elastic phase change fiber (PCF) synthesized by the facile wet spinning method in this work. In this system, the eicosane microencapsulation replaces the traditional PCMs as the thermal energy storage medium, originally solving the leakage problem. Meanwhile, choosing thermoplastic polyurethane with multiwalled carbon nanotube inserted as the fiber carrier endows the whole system excellent mechanical strength and light absorption ability. Hence, the finally obtained PCF exhibits outstanding mechanical elasticity, thermal energy storage capacity and solar-thermal conversion ability. The elongation can reach about 330% with tensile strength of 0.6MPa, fully satisfying the requirements for weaving to various shapes. The phase change enthalpy is 113.3 J/g with relative stability even after 200 thermal cycles and 24 h washing test, indicating the potential for long-time application and daily protection need. Moreover, the solar-thermal conversion efficiency was measured to be 93.08% under the irradiation power of 200 mW/cm2, proving the excellent solar-thermal conversion ability. In summary, this work provides a sample and accessible method for synthesizing the highly elastic PCF with great solar-thermal conversion and storage ability, which is beneficial for the design and development of functional thermoregulation textiles with solar energy utilization in the cold environment.

Keywords: Phase change fiber, highly elastic, solar-thermal conversion