Preparation and Characterization of Flexible Smart Glycol/Polyvinylpyrrolidone/Nano-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Phase Change Fibers
Xiaoguang Zhang, Bogang Wu, Chen Guo, Yunfei Xu, Tengteng Shi, Zhaohui Huang, Yangai Liu, Minghao Fang, Xiaowen Wu, Xin Min
Abstract
The development of flexible smart phase change fibers has been limited because of the low production rate and safety concerns of electrospinning. Therefore, a novel centrifugal spinning technology, which is a safe and large-scale fabrication approach, is employed to extrude flexible smart phase change fibers using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Nano-Al2O3 was employed to enhance the thermal conductivity of flexible smart PEG/PVP phase change fibers. The flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O3 phase change fibers have a clear cylindrical fiber shape, no cross-linking, and uniform fiber axial distribution. The interactions in flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O3 phase change fibers involve physical loading in PEG, PVP, and Nano-Al2O3. The flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O3 9.0% phase change fibers have a latent heat of 50.7 J/g at the melting point of 46.7 °C. The flexible fibers have ideal thermal stability and thermal cycle stability, and the shape of flexible fibers remained stable during the phase-change process. The thermal conductivity of flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O3 9.0% phase change fibers was 3.05 times greater than that of PEG/PVP fibers. The flexible smart fibers are promising for applications in the field of thermal insulation.