Facile preparation of fatty acids/nano [Al(OH)3/Al2O3]/wool fabric introducing thermal energy management with multifunctional properties

Abstract

Development of facile fabrication of thermal energy storage for diverse purposes has become essential to improve energy efficiency. In this regard, for the first time, fatty acids/nano Al-based/wool composite was prepared by a simple one-step procedure through in situ formation. The treated fabric was characterized by FT-IR, Raman, XRD and SEM. DSC, TGA and thermal conductivity were conducted to investigate thermal behavior of the treated wool. The experimental results show the appropriate melting and solidifying temperature, 36.59 and 29.58 °C with responding enthalpies 59.22 and 52.08 J/g, respectively, for the desired application. TGA revealed the relatively improvement in thermal durability of the treated wool fabric. Embedding Al(OH)3/Al2O3 nanoparticles in eutectic phase change materials results in a 104.16 % increase in thermal conductivity. Despite the negative effect of fatty acids on flame retardant feature of the composite, aluminum hydroxide nanoparticles incorporated into the prepared composites imparted a good smoke suppression to the prepared composite. Moreover, the optimal sample illustrated excellent antibacterial and anti-fungal effects. The finished fabric also showed good activity for degradation of methylene blue under daylight irradiation. The treatment also greatly increased the water absorption of the composite and shrinkage resistance and also decreased alkali solubility. As a result, this thermos-regulative simple approach has a potentiality to be applied in various textile materials for diverse industries.