Preparation of phase change wax@polyvinyl alcohol thermo-regulated finishing agents and its applications on cotton fabrics

Abstract

The thermo-regulated finishing agents were prepared by high speed shear emulsification with phase change wax as energy storage and temperature control materials, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as coating materials, and then the cotton fabrics were treated by the prepared finishing agent by a padding-curing process. The basic properties of the phase change wax and the film forming properties of PVA were analyzed, the effects of the phase change wax and PVA ratios and the amounts of emulsifier on the performance of the finishing agent were investigated, and the surface morphology, heat storage and temperature regulation performance and washing fastness of resultant thermo-regulating cotton fabrics were characterized by SEM, DSC, TG, mini temperature recorder and water washing experiments. The results show that the melting temperature of the phase change wax is 30.24 ℃, the thermal enthalpy value is 190.0 J/g, the degree of supercooling is 5.82 ℃. PVA has high film formation speed, good film-forming ability and strong adhesion to the substrate when the temperature is above 70 ℃; when the ratio of the phase change wax to PVA is 5 :1 and the amount of the emulsifier is 4.8%(mass fraction) of the phase change wax, the prepared thermo-regulating finishing agent is relatively stable; after a padding-curing process, the surface of the cotton fibers is wrapped by an apparent film, and the prepared thermo-regulating cotton fabrics have phase change heat enthalpy of 20.51 J/g and phase transition temperature of 27.67 ℃. Under the same cooling conditions, the finished cotton fabrics exhibit good heat storage and temperature regulation performance, and can withstand 30 times of washing.

Keywords

• phase change wax
• polyvinyl alcohol
• thermo-regulated finishing agent
• cotton fabrics