Effective antibacterial and phase change PEG/Cu2O@A-HNTs composites for melt-spun difunctional PA6 fiber

Serving as the only defensive line between pathogens and human body, personal protective equipment (PPE) is increasingly attractive among researchers because of their strong antibacterial and temperature control abilities. However, efficient antibacterial properties and regenerative thermal control simultaneously remain unexplored in PPE. Here, one-dimensional halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) modified by acid etch method, are used to synthesis a multifunctional material of PEG/Cu2[email protected] via in-situ reduction and physical adsorption which serves the above two purposes. PEG/Cu2[email protected] showed rapid bacterial inactivation and achieved 96.3% bacteriostatic rate against E. coli in only 20 ​min. Meanwhile a broad and complete inactivation spectrum included both E. coli and S. aureus following a series of antibacterial mechanisms. Moreover, adsorption of 70 ​wt% PEG by acid etch HNTs is attributed to the nearly 3 times increased specific surface area compared with native HNTs. This enabled PEG/Cu2[email protected] to attain a phase change enthalpy of 108.4 ​J/g. In addition, using PEG/Cu2[email protected] as additives, antibacterial and phase change fiber (APCF) were melt-spun. Their efficiency factor against E. coli and S. aureus was above 99.99%, and retained a temperature control ability for 180s and 272s compared with PA6 fiber in hot and frigid environments respectively.