The nanocapsules containing n‐butyl stearate (BS) and n‐octadecane (C18) as binary phase change material and polyacrylate as shell were synthesized via miniemulsion polymerization using reactive emulsifier. The phase transition (change) temperatures and phase change enthalpies of the phase change material can be adjusted by regulating the composition of BS and C18. Moreover, the influences of emulsification method and reactive emulsifier dosage were studied. SEM and TEM analysis showed the nanocapsules were a spherical shape with core‐shell structure and the average size was about 170 nm. DSC and FT‐IR analysis indicated the binary phase change material was encapsulated with polyacrylate shell, and the fusing and crystallizing temperatures and latent heats of nanocapsules were determined as 26.07 °C and 24.85 °C, 56.89 J g−1 and 54.02 J g−1 respectively, and the encapsulation efficiency was above 55.09%. In addition, the results of thermoregulating and durability property revealed that the finished cotton fabric had temperature‐regulated and durability properties. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:E42–E51, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers

A novel kind of bifunctional nanoencapsulated phase change material with thermal energy storage and ultraviolet absorption functions was successfully prepared through surfactant‐free emulsion polymerization with reactive emulsifiers. These nanocapsules consisted of n‐octadecane and n‐butyl stearate as binary core materials and polyacrylate supplemented with titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano‐TiO2) as hybrid shell materials. The experimental results show that the monomer conversion and thermal conductivity increased and the particle size and distribution decreased with increase in nano‐TiO2 content when the nano‐TiO2 dosage was below 0.2 wt%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and XRD confirmed that the binary phase change materials were well encapsulated inside the polyacrylate‐TiO2 hybrid shell and nano‐TiO2 was also successfully crosslinked in the nanocapsules. TEM demonstrated that the synthesized nanocapsules exhibited a regular spherical profile and a well‐defined core–shell structure with diameter ranging from 70 to 100 nm. In addition, the results obtained from DSC, TGA and UV–visible spectrophotometry showed that the as‐prepared nanocapsules had good thermal storage capacity, thermal stability and ultraviolet absorption properties. It can be considered that the resultant nanoencapsulated phase change materials with polyacrylate‐TiO2 hybrid shell may have high feasibility and hold good promise in the applications of intelligent thermoregulation fabrics. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

Nano-TiO 2 /fluorinated polyacrylate hybrid latex was prepared by soap-free emulsion polymerization using reactive emulsifier. With the increase of modified nano-TiO 2 content, the monomer conversion gradually decreased while the gel rate slowly increased accordingly. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses indicated that the core-shell latex particles were uniform with narrow size distribution. In addition, the hybrid film formed from nano-TiO 2 /fluorinated polyacrylate latex presented higher thermal stability, mechanical and UVshielding performance than the film formed from fluorinated polyacrylate latex. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and water contact angles (WCA) analyses confirmed that the surface of hybrid film was slightly rough and hydrophobic. Furthermore, the energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis revealed that the organic fluorine segment had the tendency to migrate to the film-air interface. At last, the results of the antibacterial activity and WCA showed that the cotton fabric treated with nano-TiO 2 /fluorinated polyacrylate hybrid latex possessed good antibacterial property and remarkable water repellency. POLYM. COMPOS., 00:000-000, remarkable water repellency. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:4467-4476, 2018. FIG. 3. TEM micrographs of the nano-TiO 2 /fluorinated polyacrylate hybrid latex particles stained with (a) and without (b) 2% phosphotungstic acid solution, and the modified nano-TiO 2 particles (c). FIG. 4. Particle size distribution of nano-TiO 2 /fluorinated polyacrylate latex particles determined by DLS. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] FIG. 12. Bacterial number (a) and antibacterial rate (b) of the treated fabric samples against C. albicans. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] FIG. 13. Effect of the modified nano-TiO 2 content on water contact angle of the treated fabric samples.

A novel kind of nanoencapsulated phase change materials containing n-octadecane and n-butyl stearate as binary cores and functionalized graphene oxide modified poly(methyl methacrylate) as hybrid shells (FGO/PMMA-NanoPCMs) with superior thermal storage capability was successfully prepared by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization with reactive emulsifiers. The morphology, structure and thermal stability of graphene oxide (GO) and functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) were characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD and TGA. The results showed that GO was successfully modified by methacryloxy trimethoxyl silane (KH-570) into the reduced hydrophilic FGO. Furthermore, the morphology, particle size, chemical structure and thermal properties of PMMA-NanoPCMs and FGO/PMMA-NanoPCMs were also measured by TEM, FT-IR, XRD, DSC and TGA. The results indicated that FGO/PMMA-NanoPCMs exhibited a regular spherical profile with diameter around 100 nm and a well-defined core–shell structure. Moreover, the loading of FGO on PMMA-NanoPCMs effectively improved the thermal conductivity, latent enthalpy and thermal stability of nanocapsules. More importantly, in comparison with PMMA-NanoPCMs, FGO/PMMA-NanoPCMs had more significant thermal storage and temperature regulation performance when applied to cotton fabrics. It can be considered that the resultant FGO/PMMA-NanoPCMs will have a high feasibility and a great promise in the application of intelligent thermoregulation fabric.