A novel method for producing bi-component thermo-regulating alginate fiber from phase change material microemulsion

Abstract

A novel method for fabricating thermo-regulating alginate fiber by wet spinning from phase change material (PCM) microemulsions was proposed and carried out. In order to synthesize the PCM microemulsion successfully, different emulsifiers (alkylphenol polyoxyethylene ether (OP-10), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and their mixture) were added into the stock solution system. The solution systems with emulsifiers were observed under optical microscope and evaluated by using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC); the results showed that only the solution system with the mixture of OP-10 and SDS transformed into PCM microemulsion, corresponding to the success of fiber formation by wet spinning. In addition, the microemulsion had a stable thermal property based on the DSC result, in which the latent heat capacity remained at 97.3% after 100 cycles of heating and cooling. The thermo-regulating alginate fiber was evaluated in terms of morphology, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The results showed that the fiber had a smooth surface and porous structure in the cross-section, the bimodal TG curve of alginate fiber indicated that the PCM was successfully embedded into fiber and the DSC results demonstrated that the thermo-regulating alginate fiber had a comfortable phase change temperature of 25–35℃, and an acceptable phase change enthalpy of about 20 J/g.

Clothing Thermophysiological Comfort: A Textile Science Perspective

“…The Outlast ® fiber is generally blended with regular fibers to produce clothes with improved thermophysiological comfort [227]. Wang et al [229] developed a thermoregulating alginate fiber by incorporating PCMs from a microemulsion using wet spinning. The microemulsion of PCMs was prepared by mixing paraffin wax and emulsifiers (alkylphenol polyoxyethylene ether and sodium dodecyl sulfate).…”

Preparation of form‐stable silica/polyethylene glycol composites using flash‐drying for large‐scale melt‐spun fibers with thermal management property

“…Compared with surface coating of PCMs onto the fabrics, [14,15] direct incorporation of PCMs into fiber matrix is relatively preferable, because the intermolecular attraction force between the PCMs and the fabrics is weak, and the coated PCM is relatively easy to be damaged by abrasion, wiping, and washing. [16,17] In this regard, various techniques, such as wet spinning, [18][19][20][21] electrospinning, [22,23] and melt spinning, [24][25][26][27] have been developed to prepare PCFs. Among these technologies, melt spinning has attracted much attention due to the advantages of high productivity, low cost, and environmental friendliness.…”