Synthesis of nanoencapsulated Glauber’s salt using PMMA shell and its application on cotton for thermoregulating effect

Phase change materials (PCM) are capable of storing thermal energy and can be used in smart textiles providing thermoregulating effect. Different PCM stores different amount of energy at certain temperature and then release the stored energy in the form of latent heat. This research reports the synthesis of nanocapsules containing Glauber’s salt as a core PCM and its characterisation using differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The cotton fabric was treated with synthesized nanoencapsulated Glauber’s salt via pad-dry-cure process and was characterized using DSC and SEM in comparison with commercial microcapsules. The synthesized capsules of Glauber’s salt were found in the range of nano scale around 500 nm on average. The DSC results indicated that the nanoencapsulated Glauber’s salt showed better results after they applied on fabric and does not wash off easily. The novel nanocapsules developed and reported in this article will establish a better understanding of PCM to use in different field of material science. This research will effectively exploit the potential use of encapsulated Glauber’s salt in the field of material science such as smart cellulosic textiles.