Electrospinning of thermo-regulated sheath/core submicrometer fiber with galactitol hexa palmitate as a core

Galactitol hexa palmitate (GHP) as a phase change material (PCM) was fabricated via an esterification reaction of galactitol with palmitoyl chloride. A series of sheath/core composite submicrometer fibers were coaxially electro-spun using poly(acrylonitrile- co-vinylidene chloride) (P(AN- co-VDC)) as a sheath and the GHP as a core. The phase change properties, thermal stability, and the surface morphology of the fibers were characterized using field emission scanning electronic microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), etc. The results show that coaxial submicrometer fibers with a smooth surface and average diameter of 796 nm were electro-spun. The optimum feed rate of the sheath and core components for fabricating thermo-regulated submicrometer fibers with high enthalpies are 1.25 and 0.125 mL/h, respectively. The fiber can absorb 55 J/g of heat energy at approximately 23.2℃ and release 54 J/g at approximately 20.3℃. By contrast, the enthalpy of the P(AN- co-VDC)/GHP submicrometer fiber is higher than the previously published results.