Polyacrylonitrile/polyethylene glycol phase-change material fibres prepared with hybrid polymer blends and nano-SiC fillers via centrifugal spinning

Abstract

Recently, electrospinning has been widely applied to prepare phase-change material fibres. However, the practical applications of electrospinning are limited by its low productivity and potential safety hazards. Herein, a simple centrifugal spinning without the drawbacks of electrospinning was applied to fabricate polyethylene glycol-based PCM fibres with nano-SiC as a highly conductive filler, polyacrylonitrile as the supporting material, and N,N-dimethylformamide as the solvent to dissolve the polymers. Results demonstrate that the PCM fibres were formed by physical combination rather than chemical reaction. The shapes of the PCM fibres remained stable during the phase-change process. Based on differential scanning calorimetry, PAN/PEG/SiC PCM fibres containing 4.0 wt% nano-SiC melted at 51.31 °C with a phase-change latent heat of 69.91 J/g. The thermal conductivity of PAN/PEG/SiC PCM fibres was improved by 79% compared to that of PAN/PEG PCM fibres. The good thermophysical properties of the prepared PAN/PEG/SiC PCM fibres show promise for long-term utilization.