Temperature control and low infrared emissivity double-shell phase change microcapsules and their application in infrared stealth fabric

Abstract

With the rapid development of infrared detection technology, the development of infrared stealth products has become an urgent requirement. Infrared stealth effect is affected by both temperature and infrared emissivity, but most of the previous studies focus on a single factor, which limits the effectiveness of the products. Herein, we prepared double-shell microcapsules (DSMs) with both temperature control and low infrared emissivity. It firstly uses eicosane as the phase change material (PCM) and melamine, urea and formaldehyde (MUF) as the shell material to form microcapsules. Then, polyaniline (PANI) is deposited on the surface of these microcapsules to form DSMs. The DSMs were measured to have a particle size concentrated at 1.484 μm, a latent heat of 155.1 J/g, a core content of 63.25% and an infrared emissivity as low as 0.722. After coating the DSMs onto polyester fabrics, the infrared emissivity of the coating has a little increase to 0.794, but impressively, the as prepared fabric can be cooled down by a maximum of 11.2 °C compared to the untreated fabric, and the temperature control process can last for 27 min, which is superior to similar products. Featured with temperature control by PCM and low emissivity by PANI, the infrared camera image shows that the fabric has an obvious infrared stealth effect, proving it is a great potential candidate in infrared stealth materials.