Cellulose–PEG grafts from cotton waste in thermo-regulating textiles

This study focused on the production of heat storage materials from cotton wastes by incorporating a phase-change material and determination of their thermo-regulating properties. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was grafted onto a cellulosic cotton backbone to give solid–solid phase change properties. The change in the surface morphology of the fibers was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Chemical characterization of the fibers was carried out using Fourier-transform infrared radiation spectroscopy. Thermal analysis of the modified fibers was performed by differential scanning calorimetry, and the thermal regulating properties of the PEG-grafted fibers were investigated using a thermal history system comprising insulated boxes, temperature sensors and a data-logger. Static thermal insulation measurements were also carried out on the fibers. The PEG-grafted cellulose fibers were shown to absorb up to 33.8 J/g heat at 33.0℃, releasing 31.5 J/g heat at 29.4℃, during the phase transitions. Thermal history results showed that temperature of the box containing PEG1000-incorporated fiber differed by 1–1.5 ± 0.1℃ from the temperature of the box containing untreated cotton fibers over 23–25 minutes. Based on these results it is concluded that PEG-grafted cellulose has sufficiently high energy storage properties to be employed as a thermo-regulating material.