A Thermoregulatory Flexible Phase Change Nonwoven for All‑Season High‑Efficiency Wearable Thermal Management

Phase change materials have a key role for wearable thermal management,but suffer from poor water vapor permeability,low enthalpy value and weak shape stability caused by liquid phase leakage and intrinsic rigidity of solid–liquid phase change materials.Herein,we report for the first time a versatile strategy for designed assembly of high-enthalpy flexible phase change nonwovens(GB-PCN)by wet-spinning hybrid grapheneboron nitride(GB)fiber and subsequent impregnating paraffins(e.g.,eicosane,octadecane).As a result,our GB-PCN exhibited an unprecedented enthalpy value of 206.0 J g^(−1),excellent thermal reliability and anti-leakage capacity,superb thermal cycling ability of 97.6%after 1000 cycles,and ultrahigh water vapor permeability(close to the cotton),outperforming the reported PCM films and fibers to date.Notably,the wearable thermal management systems based on GB-PCN for both clothing and face mask were demonstrated,which can maintain the human body at a comfortable temperature range for a significantly long time.Therefore,our results demonstrate huge potential of GB-PCN for human-wearable passive thermal management in real scenarios.

Spatiotemporal phase change materials for thermal energy long-term storage and controllable release

Phase change materials(PCMs)have attracted much attention in the field of solar thermal utilization recently,due to their outstanding thermal energy storage performance.However,PCMs usually release their stored latent heat spontaneously as the temperature below the phase transition temperature,rendering thermal energy storage and release uncontrollable,thus hindering their practical application in time and space.Herein,we developed erythritol/sodium carboxymethylcellulose/tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate(ERY/CMC/EDTA-4Na)composite PCMs with novel spatiotemporal thermal energy storage properties,defined as spatiotemporal PCMs(STPCMs),which exhibit the capacity of thermal energy long-term storage and controllable release.Our results show that the composite PCMs are unable to lose latent heat due to spontaneous crystallization during cooling,but can controllably release thermal energy through cold crystallization during reheating.The cold-crystallization temperature and enthalpy of composite PCMs can be adjusted by proportional addition of EDTA-4Na to the composite.When the mass fractions of CMC and EDTA-4Na are both 10%,the composite PCMs can exhibit the optical coldcrystallization temperature of 51.7℃ and enthalpy of 178.1 J/g.The supercooled composite PCMs without latent heat release can be maintained at room temperature(10-25℃)for up to more than two months,and subsequently the stored latent heat can be controllably released by means of thermal triggering or heterogeneous nucleation.Our findings provide novel insights into the design and construction of new PCMs with spatiotemporal performance of thermal energy long-term storage and controllable release,and consequently open a new door for the development of advanced solar thermal utilization techniques on the basis of STPCMs.

Unleashing the Power of Bio-based Thermotropic Liquid Crystal Modifiers:Toughening and Reinforcing Petroleum-based Epoxy Resin without Compromising Other Properties

Toughening the petroleum-based epoxy resin blends with bio-based modifiers without compromising their modulus,mechanical strength,and other properties is still a big challenge in view of the sustainability.In this study,a bio-based liquid crystal epoxy resin(THMT-E P)with an s-triazine ring structure was utilized to modify a petroleum-based bisphenol A epoxy resin(E51)with 4,4'-diaminodiphenylsulfone(DDS)as a curing agent,and the blended systems were evaluated for their thermal stability,mechanical properties,and flame retardancy.The results showed that the impact strength of the blended system initially increased and then decreased with the increase in THMT-EP content,and it reached the a maximum value of 26.5 kJ/m^(2)when the THMT-EP content was 5%,which was 31.2%higher than that of E51/DDS.Notably,the flexural strength,modulus,and glass transition tem perature of the blended system were all simultaneously improved with the addition of THMT-EP.At the same time,the addition of THMT-EP enhanced the flame retardancy of the system by increasing the char yield at 700℃and decreasing the peak heat release rate and total heat release rate.This work paves the way for a more sustainable improvement in the comprehensive performance of epoxy resin.