Biobased Multifunctional Poly(lactic acid) Nanofiber Membranes for Efficient Personal Thermal Management

Abstract

The growing demand for efficient and economical cooling in both indoor and outdoor applications, especially personal cooling in outdoor environments, is a major challenge globally today. Passive daytime radiative cooling technology with spectral selectivity which operates by transferring radiative heat into cold universe (∼3 K) through the atmospheric window (8−13 μm) is an emerging and sustainable cooling technology. However, passive daytime radiative cooling materials are still limited by nondegradable, finite categories and single function. In this paper, multifunctional biobased poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) nanofiber membranes with radiation cooling, electrical conductivity, and antibacterial properties were prepared by electrospinning technology combined with spraying technology. This multifunctional nanofiber membrane has high solar reflectivity (82%) and strong mid-infrared emissivity (98%) that achieves a temperature drop of 5.5−12 °C on sunny days and 2.9−10 °C on cloudy days. Adding 18.2% silver nanowires can reduce the resistance of the nanofiber membrane to 208 Ω, which also endowed the membrane with good antibacterial properties. This multifunctional nanofiber membrane opens up an environmentally sustainable approach for personal thermal management and introduces new possibilities for the rational design of next-generation smart textiles.

Flexible and Degradable Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)-Based Film for Passive Cooling Applications

“…Passive radiative cooling materials have been attracting considerable attention for energy-saving feature. − Theoretically, as an object absorbs an incident light wavelength, the radiation energy occupied by the light would be transformed into the thermal energy. The absorbed solar energy usually contains three parts, including the ultraviolet (UV) region, visible (VIS) region, and near-infrared (NIR) region.…”