Phase change materials (PCMs) are of great importance in thermal regulation applications, but low thermal conductivity is the most critical disadvantage of these materials. Especially in the textile field, while there are many studies on the production of PCM-coated fabrics, studies on improving heat dissipation are quite limited. Therefore, in this study, first, n-octadecane was encapsulated with melamine formaldehyde shell modified with graphene as a thermal conductivity enhancer, and then, synthesized PCM microcapsules were coated on polyester fabrics. Chemical, morphological, thermal properties, as well as phase change behavior of microcapsules and coated fabrics were analyzed. The thermal conductivity of the PCM microcapsule-coated PET fabrics was increased by 31% with the addition of very low amount of graphene (0.1%).

Recently, electrically conductive, flexible, and transparent nanocomposite thin films consisting of nanomaterials on insulating polymer layers are of particular interest to scientific and industrial experts and have promising applications in energy, electronic, and environment areas, due to their remarkable properties. In this study, nanomaterials including silver nanowires, reduced graphene oxide, and carbon nanotubes, and also, conducting polymer poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate were embedded onto insulating polyamide 6‐based polymer layer to form unilateral (one‐sided) conductive nanocomposite thin film with advanced optical, electrical, and mechanical properties. Spin coating technique was used to fabricate these flexible, conductive, and transparent thin film layers. Thin conductive films decorated with silver nanowires exhibited sufficiently low sheet resistance of 105 Ω/sq with a transparency of ∼85%. The maximum measured stress and elongation was obtained as 2.24 N/mm2 and 12.5%, respectively. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:1771–1778, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers

Abstract Polymer-based nanofibers are good candidates for medical textiles due to their excellent properties including high surface area, breathability and flexibility. Doping polymer nanofibers with different nanoparticles enhances their existing properties. In this study, electrospun polyamide 6,6 (PA6,6) composite nanofibers containing ZnO nanoparticles (<50 nm) in different amounts (1%, 3% and 5%) were first produced by electrospinning technique; then, these nanofibers were coated with sol-gel ZnO solution (0.5 m) via dip coating method at 1000, 3000 and 5000 μm/s speeds. The sol-gel coating process increased the breaking strength of nanofiber mats, while the incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles into the polymer nanofibers reduced. Compared to pure PA6,6 nanofiber mats, the ZnO sol-gel coated samples and doped nanofibers had lower reflectance values. In addition, the reflection values decreased as the additive and coating speed increased.