Fabrication of PCM-loaded polylactic acid (PLA)/cotton biocomposite yarn with thermoregulation function

Providing thermal comfort of the human body is very important not only due to the physical and psychological health, but also in terms of energy consumption, productivity, and economy. Phase change materials (PCMs) meet the thermal management requirements for various cooling and heating applications, owing to the storage and release of high latent heat energy at near-isothermal conditions. In the textile industry, PCMs are also used for developing thermo-regulation smart textiles. In the present study, PCM nanocapsules were synthesized based on paraffin core and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) shell. During the ring spinning, the synthesized PCM nanocapsules were incorporated within cotton fibres at the concentration of 6% and the yarns were produced at different nanocapsules feeding rates ranged from 62.5 mL/h to 80.0 mL/h. Aiming to benefit from the outstanding characteristics of nanofibers, the ring-spun cotton yarn was combined with polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibres. For this purpose, PCM-loaded ring-spun cotton yarn was fed as a core to a modified electrospinning set-up, where the PLA nanofibres containing PCM nanocapsules covered it to provide a core–shell structured composite yarn with thermo-regulation property. Morphology and thermal properties of PCM nanocapsules and composite yarns were characterized by various analysis tests. The results indicated that the composite yarns exhibited a temperature difference of 2 °C and above compared to the neat yarns. The developed composite yarns combining the properties of cotton, PLA nanofibres, and PCMs in one structure would present a potential to rival the multifunctional thermally adaptive textile products.