Preparation and Characterization of Flexible Smart Glycol/Polyvinylpyrrolidone/Nano-Al2O3Phase Change Fibers

The development of flexible smart phase change fibers has been limited because of the low production rate and safety concerns of electrospinning. Therefore, a novel centrifugal spinning technology, which is a safe and large-scale fabrication approach, is employed to extrude flexible smart phase change fibers using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Nano-Al2O3was employed to enhance the thermal conductivity of flexible smart PEG/PVP phase change fibers. The flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O3phase change fibers have a clear cylindrical fiber shape, no cross-linking, and uniform fiber axial distribution. The interactions in flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O3phase change fibers involve physical loading in PEG, PVP, and Nano-Al2O3. The flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O39.0% phase change fibers have a latent heat of 50.7 J/g at the melting point of 46.7 °C. The flexible fibers have ideal thermal stability and thermal cycle stability, and the shape of flexible fibers remained stable during the phase-change process. The thermal conductivity of flexible smart PEG/PVP/Nano-Al2O39.0% phase change fibers was 3.05 times greater than that of PEG/PVP fibers. The flexible smart fibers are promising for applications in the field of thermal insulation.