Synthesis of N-Alkane Mixture Microcapsule and Its Application in Low-Temperature Protective Fabric

We investigated synthesis and characterization of melamine-urea-formaldehyde（MUF） microcapsules containing n-alkane mixture as phase change core material for thermal energy storage and low-temperature protection. The phase change microcapsules（microPCMs） were prepared by an in situ polymerization using sodium dodecyl sulfate（SDS） and polyvinyl alcohol（PVA） as emulsifiers. Surface morphology, particle size, chemical structure, and thermal properties of microPCMs were, respectively, characterized by using scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, field emission scanning electron microscopy（FESEM）, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR）, differential scanning calorimetry（DSC）, and thermal gravimetric analysis（TGA）. Low-temperature resistance performances were measured at-15,-30,-45, and-60 ℃ after microPCMs were coated on a cotton fabric by foaming technology. The results showed that spherical microPCMs had 4.4 μm diameter and 100 nm wall thickness. The melting and freezing temperatures and the latent heats of the microPCMs were determined as 28.9 and 29.6 ℃ as well as 110.0 and 115.7 J/g, respectively. Encapsulation of n-alkane mixture achieved 84.9 %. TGA analysis indicated that the microPCMs had good chemical stability below 250 ℃. The results showed that the microencapsulated n-alkane mixture had good energy storage potential. After the addition of 10 % microPCMs, low-temperature resistance duration was prolonged by 126.9%, 145.5%, 128.6%, and 87.5% in environment of-15,-30,-45 and-60 ℃, respectively as compared to pure fabric. Based on the results, phase change microcapsule plays an effective role in lowtemperature protection field for the human body.