Novel wearable polyacrylonitrile/phase-change material sheath/core nano-fibers fabricated by coaxial electro-spinning

Abstract

This study focused on the preparation of wearable polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/phase-change material (PCM) sheath/core nano-fibers by coaxial electro-spinning technology. PAN was used as the sheath material to make fibers comfortable to human skin, and isopropyl palmitate and paraffin oil were used as sample PCMs. The electro-spinning conditions are critical for encapsulating a PCM by a PAN shell and forming a uniform sheath–core structure. Our experiments show that these PCMs could be well encapsulated in PAN hollow fibers and function to stabilize environmental temperature in a narrow range. This study provides a versatile and feasible way to fabricate PAN/PCM sheath/core homo-thermal nano-fibers with various temperature stabilization windows. Using these homo-thermal nano-fibers as clothing materials will be able to abate people’s discomfort during a sudden environmental temperature change.