Thermoregulated non-woven fabric treated with microencapsulated phase change materials suitable for smart textiles

The objective of this study is to manufacture a thermoregulating non-woven fabric based on melamine–formaldehyde (MF) microcapsules. Microencapsulated phase change materials (mPCMs), containing n-hexadecane (HD) was prepared via dispersion polymerization and consequence microcapsules was incorporated into non-woven fabric through screen coating process. Morphology of the microcapsules, formation of the core-shell structure and distribution of microcapsules deposited on fabric, were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique, also that was used to determine particle size and its distribution and it was found that average mean diameter of microcapsules was 3.78 micron. Thermal properties of microcapsules were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA) and these thermograms confirmed the extent of inclusion of HD in the MF microcasules and their corresponding properties. This research was conducted to clarify the influence of the amount of microcapsules and binder on the thermal response infrared thermo-camera (IRT) analyses. The results reveal that thermo-regulating response depends on the surface deposited weight and the mass ratio binder to microcapsules. A weight ratio binder to microcapsules taken between 1:2 and 1:4 is suitable to manufacture thermo-regulating textile