Ultraviolet light-initiated preparation of phase change material microcapsules and its infrared imaging effect on fabric

This study aims to explore the infrared imaging effect of fabrics coated with phase change material microcapsules (PCM-MCs), which are prepared by the initiation of ultraviolet (UV) light.,PCM-MCs were prepared by UV polymerization using paraffin (PA) as core material, polymethyl methacrylate as wall material and ferric chloride as photoinitiator. The effects of emulsifier dosage and emulsification temperature on the properties of PA emulsion were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy, particle size analysis, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and infrared imaging test were used to characterize the properties of microcapsules.,The PCM-MCs with good morphology and particle size were prepared with 25 cm of the distance between light source and the liquid. The average particle size was 1.066 µm and the latent heat of phase transition was 19.96 J/g. After 100 accelerated thermal cycles, the latent heat only decreased by 1.8%. It had good heat storage stability and thermal stability. The fabric coated by the microcapsules exhibited a variable temperature hysteresis effect when placed in the sun, and presented a color close to the infrared images of the human palm under the external environment temperature close to the human body temperature.,The PCM-MCs prepared based on UV light initiation showed good thermal properties and its coated fabrics had an infrared decoy effect below the temperature of the human body.,This study explored the application of microcapsules in textiles.,The microcapsules had a certain application potential in infrared decoy effect.