Effective thermal modulation and storage are important aspects of efforts to improve energy efficiency across all sectors. Phase change materials (PCMs) can act as effective heat reservoirs due to the high latent heat associated with the phase change process (typically a solid–liquid transition). PCMs have been developed and integrated into various platforms such as building materials, gas sorbents/separators, and consumer products. Polymer fibers offer distinct benefits over other structures since they can be solution-processed and produced at enormous scales. In this work, we fabricate polymer fibers that possess high loadings (up to 80 wt %) of microencapsulated PCMs (μPCMs) to provide sufficient heat storage capacity. We focus on the solution spinning of cellulose due to its eco-friendly characteristics, low cost, and superior mechanical stability. We incorporate μPCMs into polymer dopes (e.g., cellulose acetate, polyethersulfone, cellulose), and μPCM-polymer fibers are then spun via solution-spinning processes. The thermal response behaviors of μPCM-polymer fibers were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and no damage to μPCMs during the fiber spinning was observed. Additionally, no degradation of the PCM was observed after several freeze/melt cycles. The loading amount of μPCMs in fibers can be obtained up to 80 wt %, and around 95% of thermal storage capacities are retained in the fiber after the fabrication process. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) reveals that there is a trade-off between the mechanical stability of μPCM-polymer fibers and loading amount of μPCMs; thus, optimization of the μPCM loading is required to meet application-specific mechanical stability. We expect that our engineered μPCM-polymer fibers can be applied to a smart thermal energy storage material that enables effective heat management.

中文翻译：

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将相变材料掺入纤维​​中以实现可持续的热能存储

有效的热调制和存储是努力提高所有部门能源效率的重要方面。相变材料（PCM）由于与相变过程相关的高潜热（通常是固液转变）而可以充当有效的储热器。PCM已开发并集成到各种平台中，例如建筑材料，气体吸附剂/分离器和消费产品。聚合物纤维比其他结构具有明显的优势，因为它们可以固溶加工和大规模生产。在这项工作中，我们制造的聚合物纤维具有高负载量（最多80 wt％）的微囊化PCM（μPCM），以提供足够的储热能力。我们专注于纤维素的溶液纺丝，因为它具有环保特性，成本低，以及出色的机械稳定性。我们将μPCM掺入聚合物涂料（例如醋酸纤维素，聚醚砜，纤维素）中，然后通过溶液纺丝工艺将μPCM聚合物纤维纺丝。使用差示扫描量热法（DSC）分析了μPCM聚合物纤维的热响应行为，在纤维纺丝过程中未观察到对μPCM的破坏。另外，在几个冷冻/融化循环之后，未观察到PCM的降解。可以在纤维中获得高达80 wt％的μPCMs负载量，并且在制造过程之后，纤维中保留了大约95％的蓄热能力。动态力学分析（DMA）表明，μPCM聚合物纤维的机械稳定性与μPCM的负载量之间存在权衡；因此，为了满足特定应用的机械稳定性，需要优化μPCM负载。我们期望我们的工程化PCM聚合物纤维可以应用于能够有效进行热量管理的智能热能存储材料。