Cuprous oxide modified nanoencapsulated phase change materials fabricated by RAFT miniemulsion polymerization for thermal energy storage and photothermal conversion

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCMs) have great promise in many fields related to energy utilization and thermal management. However, PCMs face great challenges in large-scale applications due to the intrinsic melting leakage, low thermal conductivity and poor photothermal conversion. Herein, nanoencapsulated phase change materials (NanoPCMs) were fabricated by RAFT miniemulsion polymerization using quaternized poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (QPDMAEMA-b-PMMA) as emulsifier. N-octadecane and n-butyl stearate were used as binary cores, and Cu2O nanoparticles were doped into PMMA as hybrid shell. The resulting Cu2O/PMMA-NanoPCMs had an encapsulation efficiency of 86.68%, excellent thermal stability and thermal cycle durability. The thermal conductivity was enhanced by 67.25% compared with the original nanocapsules. Furthermore, the cotton fabrics finished with Cu2O/PMMA-NanoPCMs showed fast thermal response and superior photothermal conversion. Therefore, the synthesized nanocapsules are considered as potential candidates in the field of solar energy utilization and smart thermo-regulated textiles.