engleski

Heat storing performance of polycaprolactone in electrospun phase change materials

Thermo-regulating through a phase change material (PCM) offers an effective approach to improve the thermal comfort feature of fabrics. Recently, electrospinning has been recognized as an alternative way of encapsulating phase change materials. This paper discusses the development of electrospun nanofibrous materials with a heat storing ability based on polycaprolactone (PCL), owing to its low melting point as an advantage in practical applications. TA low molecular weight PCL was encapsulated in nanofibers through electrospinning its blend with polyvinilidene fluoride (PVDF). The as prepared nanofibrous materials, with different polymers weight ratios, were evaluated for their heat storing performance, temperature decomposition and mechanical behavior. The heat managing function of the nanofibres has been clearly demonstrated with an efficient encapsulation of almost 50 % PCL in the fibres, meanwhile the cast films with same polymer composition only showed 29 %. Further, the electrospun materials performed with greater structure stability and improved mechanical stiffness after exposure to a temperature higher than the melting point of PCL, compared to control samples. On the other hand the heat treatment of the cast films resulted in greater separation or porous structure during PCL solid-liquid phase transition.

Polycaprolactone; Polyvinilidene fluoride; Phase change; Electrospun; Heat storage

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