Thermal-regulated sodium alginate-g-mPEG fibers with stable shape and high enthalpy value prepared by in-situ wet spinning method

Although petroleum-based materials have long been recognized as the most for fibers production, their non-renewable and non-degradable properties will cause environmental pollution. To address these challenges, it is to identify a sustainable source of biomass raw material. In this study, we successfully synthesized sodium alginate grafted Polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (SA-g-mPEG) and subsequently prepared thermo-regulated SA-g-mPEG fibers through a solid-solid phase change via the wet spinning method. The grafting rate of SA-g-mPEG fibers increased proportionally with the content ratio of sodium alginate and mono-terminal aminopolyglycol, as evidenced by NMR, FT-IR, and TGA results. Higher grafting ratios resulted in lower crystallinity and smoother surface characteristics in the SA-g-mPEG fibers. Rheological and mechanical analyses demonstrated these phase-change fibers exhibited excellent processing properties while maintaining mechanical properties similar to those of the initial pure sample. DSC results revealed the phase-change fiber possessed a ΔHc value of 45.0 J/g and a ΔHm value of 49.2 J/g when the grafting rate reached 36.6 %. Furthermore, we fabricated two devices using both SA and SA-g-mPEG fibers, notably, the "textile" made of SA-g-mPEG fibers exhibited absorption and release of heat behavior. As-prepared SA-g-mPEG fibers provides a novel chose to be used in the field of smart thermal-regulated textile.