Effects of nano-SiO_2 on morphology and thermal energy storage of electrospun LA-PA/PET composite phase change fibers

The form-stable phase change composite fibers consisting of binary LA-PA eutectic,polyethylene terephthalate(PET) and silica nanoparticles(nano-SiO2) were successfully fabricated by the technique of electrospunning.The effects of nano-SiO2 on morphology and thermal energy storage properties of electrospun LA-PA/PET/SiO2 phase change composite fibers were investigated by SEM and DSC.The SEM images showed that the electrospun LA-PA/PET/SiO2 ultrafine composite fibers possessed the smooth surfaces morphologies with fiber diameters slightly smaller than those of the LA-PA/PET fibers with wrinkled surfaces;the average diameters of the ultrafine composite fibers gradual decreased with increasing content of the nano-SiO2 in the composite fibers.The DSC results indicated that the content of nano-SiO2 in the fibers plays an important role on the enthalpies values of melting and crystallization of the composite phase change fibers,while it had no significant effect on the temperatures of phase transitions.