A SUSTAINABILITY APPROACH: INTEGRATION OF A MICROENCAPSULATED PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL TO A RECYCLED PES NONWOVEN FABRIC TO DEVELOP A HEAT STORING RECYCLED MATERIAL

Phase change materials (PCMs) are thermal energy storing materials which are adopted in various industries including textiles. They provide temperature regulation by absorbing the heat from the ambiance or releasing the latent heat that they store. PCMs are widely integrated into textiles in microencapsulated form where the core PCM is covered by the microcapsule shell and protected during phase change. This form also provides a higher thermal conductivity. In this work, a blend of organic coconut oil and n-octadecane were used as phase change material in core, and melamine formaldehyde was used as shell material to develop microencapsulated PCM for heat storage. The microcapsules were produced by using in situ polymerization method. The developed microcapsules (MPCMs) were integrated to a recycled PES (polyester) nonwoven fabric, generated from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) fibres, and manufactured by combing and needle punching technique. The MPCMs were implemented to the fabric by coating method. The core PCM, MPCM, and the coated nonwoven fabric were assessed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). SEM results indicated that spherical and uniform microcapsules were obtained with a particle size of 3-9 μm. DSC results revealed that MPCM and the MPCM coated nonwoven fabric possessed a remarkable melting enthalpy of 111 J/g and 30.9 J/g, respectively at peak melting temperatures of 28.1°C and 27.4°C.