Preparation, characterisation and thermal properties of calcium alginate/n-nonadecane microcapsules fabricated by electro-coextrusion for thermo-regulating textiles

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop a new technique for producing a phase change material (PCM) loaded biopolymer capsule for thermo-regulating textiles. Electro-coextrusion process fabricated a series of microencapsulated phase change material (MEPCM) based on n-nonadecane core and alginate shell. The influence of the flow rate ratio of the shell/core on the formation, encapsulation efficiency and thermal behaviour of a microencapsulated PCM has been investigated. The MEPCM was characterised using optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DCS). The size and the encapsulation efficiency of a capsule decreased as the flow rate ratio of the shell/core increased. The PCM microcapsules contained 56–84% n-nonadecane and the size range from 200 to 400 µm, as evaluated by DSC and optical microscopy, respectively. The experimental results show that the electro-coextrusion method has a potential technology for the encapsulation of PCMs for thermal storage.

• Coaxial nozzle
• core/shell particle
• encapsulation
• morphology
• n-nonadecane
• thermal energy storage

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.