100% BIO-BASED MICROENCAPSULATED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS AS REGULATOR OF TEMPERATURE OF TEXTILE FABRIC

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCM) are very useful in many fields due to their capacity to absorbe and release heat energy when it is necessary. In this paper it was managed to microencapsulate 100% biodegradable PCMs to apply them into textile fiber in order to regulate its temperature. The microencapsulation method used in the present work was solvent evaporation with oil-in-water emulsification. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was conducted to confirm the successful microencapsulation. Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) was used to evaluate thermal properties of the core material and also efficience of the microencapsulation. Coconut oil and bee wax were used as PCM due to their melting point (Coconut oil - 23°C, Beeswax – 60°C) and, Polylactide (PLA) and Ethyl cellulose (EC) as shell materials because of their biodegradable nature. The microPCMs were applied onto the non-woven PLA with the help of a binder which in this case was calcium alginate and chitosan and then it was confirmed by SEM the microcapsules were inside the fabric and stick them to it. The thermal regulating properties of modified textiles were investigated by an IR camera. The results obtained from thermal analysis of samples showed that the temperature of the unmodified sample decreases faster than the modified sample.

Keywords

• Coconut oil
• bee wax
• polyamide
• ethyl cellulose
• calcium alginate
• chitosan