Thermoregulating microencapsulated phase change composites fabricated through amino acid-amidated Gleditsia
Zelong Wang1, Longbin Li1, Li Ji1
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Engineering Research Center of Forestry Biomass Materials and Bioenergy (Ministry of Education), Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China.
Abstract:
Polysaccharide-based phase change materials (PCM) currently encounter several challenges, including complex preparation processes, the use of toxic reagents, and inadequate stability. This study presents an eco-friendly, rapid strategy for synthesizing high-performance PCMs using a stable Pickering emulsion templated by a novel phenylalanine-amidated TEMPO-oxidized Gleditsia galactomannan (TOGG-Phe). Grafting phenylalanine onto TEMPO-oxidized galactomannan (TOGG) endowed TOGG-Phe with exceptional emulsifying stability (>5 days at RT), enabling its use as a biorenewable stabilizer. Leveraging this stable emulsion template, PCM microcapsules (cores: Mes, C18, C22) were rapidly fabricated within just 15 min via interfacial photopolymerization using hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) as the shell. The resulting microcapsules exhibited a well-defined spherical core-shell structure with controllable wall thickness, demonstrated excellent thermal stability, achieved 100% encapsulation efficiency, and delivered high enthalpies (up to 144.44 J/g). Crucially, this facile emulsion approach is directly applicable to textiles; spraying it onto fabric produced temperature-regulating materials with a heat storage enthalpy of 72.8 J/g. This approach offers significant potential for expanding high-value applications of Gleditsia galactomannan.
