A facile method for continuous production of temperature-adaptive hyperthermal management core-sheath polyurethane nanofiber yarns based on vanadium dioxide toward commercialization

As a facile method for producing nanofiber materials, electrospinning is widely used in various fields. However, it is generally adopted for fabricating nonwoven nanofiber membranes, which limited its applications. In this study, we propose a new facile mechanism for continuous production of high-strength electrospinning nanofiber-covered yarns, which can be directly used for fabric weaving toward commercialization. After doping of vanadium dioxide(VO2), a solid–solid phase change material (PCM) with a phase change temperature close to room temperature, a smart nanofiber-covered yarn with hyperthermal management capability is obtained. Benefiting from the delicate core-sheath structure and rigorous adjustment of spinning solution composition as well as spinning parameters (including spinning voltage, solution flow rate, and spinning distance), it achieved optimal nanofiber diameter at 510 nm, and patterns sewn on polyester fabric can be lowered by up to 19 °C compared to polyester fabric. The nanofiber-covered yarn can be used for textiles such as garments and curtains, which helps reduce the tremendous energy consumed for thermal regulation.