The phase change sub-microcapsules (PCMCs) with the particle size of 100 nm to 1 μm have a great application potential in the field of hybrid materials for solar energy storage, while the preparation of PCMCs remains challenging without ultrasonic treatment and high-speed (>1000 rpm) homogenization. Herein, PCMCs with readily tunable phase change properties are prepared via facile, robust ab initio emulsion polymerization. The PCMCs present the quasi-monodispersed particle morphologies with the tunable particle size from 159 to 383 nm depending on the loading content of acrylic acid and the free surfactant. The latent heat density and phase change temperature of the PCMCs can be tuned from 66.6 to 115.2 J/g and from 20.8 to 65.4 °C, respectively, depending on the loading content and the type of phase change cores. The PCMCs confirm the latent heat efficiency of about 1, the high thermal reliability, and the high shape stability. The PCMCs can be functionalized by polyaniline coatings with an efficient photothermal effect. The robust, versatile approach to functionalized PCMCs can provide an alternative opportunity for the development of the next-generation smart thermal energy materials.
Phase change materials (PCMs) that can effectively improve the efficiency of energy storage and conversion have been used in the field of microelectronic devices for prolonging service life. However, conventional PCMs are easy to cause brittle fractures and damage to microelectronic devices because of their strong rigidity, which cannot perfectly fit the irregular surface of microelectronic devices. Herein, we successfully synthesized a dynamic covalently cross-linked shape memory PCM (HPCM8K) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the phase change component, hexamethylene diisocyanate trimer as the crosslinking point, and a disulfide bond as the dynamic covalent bond. The tensile strength and the elongation at break of the designed HPCM8K-1 can reach 27.7 MPa and 853.1%, respectively; meanwhile, HPCM8K has excellent latent heat storage capacity with the highest latent heat of 98.1 J/g. Importantly, these HPCM8K can integrate both traditional elastic shape memory and permanent shape reconstruction capabilities into one PEG-based dynamic cross-linking network after introducing the disulfide bond in the molecular structure. The key point of this work is to introduce exceptional mechanical performance and remarkable shape memory ability into PCMs, greatly improving the operability of shape change and enhancing their shape adaptability for accommodating different surfaces of microelectronic devices.
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