Ultraflexible, Breathable, and Form-Stable Phase Change Fibrous Membranes by Green Electrospinning for Personal Thermal Management

Abstract

Advanced textiles for personal thermal management (PTM) are more precise and energy-saving than traditional heating/cooling strategies. Applying phase change materials (PCMs) in PTM is sustainable and effective but challenging due to the intrinsic rigid character of PCMs and the leakage issue in phase transition. In this work, we employed poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a functional material and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a polymer skeleton by green electrospinning to endow the composite membranes with superior flexibility, breathability, and thermal regulation capability. The introduction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) promoted the mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the prepared membranes. The thermal conductivity of resultant membranes was enhanced by 40.4% with only 1.5% weight content of CNTs. Furthermore, surface chemical cross-linking was applied to improve water-resistance properties and minimize the confinement on the PEG segment. The prepared membranes have a reasonable temperature range (∼26.9–38.9 °C) in the phase change process with a melting latent heat of 60.1 J/g and freezing latent heat of 59.1 J/g as the mass ratio of PEG reached 55 wt %. These flexible fibrous membranes with optimal energy storage capacity and eco-friendly characteristics indicate they will be a promising candidate for personal thermal management.