A facile approach to synthesize microencapsulated phase change materials embedded with silver nanoparicle for both thermal energy storage and antimicrobial purpose

In this study, a facile approach having the advantages of high efficiency and low-energy consumption for synthesis of microencapsulated phase change materials (MicroPCMs) with thermal energy storage and antimicrobial properties was demonstrated. Phase change materials (PCMs) was firstly encapsulated via the photocurable pickering emulsion polymerization technique, and then followed by silver reduction. The resulting microcapsules exhibited an excellent spherical morphology, narrow particle size distribution and a well-defined core-shell structure. The chemical composition and surface elemental distribution of Ag/SiO2-MicroPCMs were confirmed by the FTIR and EDS. The TEM observations indicated that Ag nanoparticles have been successfully attached on the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles. In addition, the results obtained from DSC and TGA indicated that the microcapsules achieved a good latent-heat storage capability, enhanced thermal reliability and stability. More importantly, Ag/SiO2-MicroPCMs was eventually combined with PVA hydrogel to prepare an antibacterial and thermoregulation composite material. As expected, the composite material obtained an excellent bactericidal properties, especially for Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, this composite material was also endowed with thermoregulation properties, due to the inherent latent heat storage characteristic of Ag/SiO2-MicroPCMs. It can be concluded that the microcapsules developed in this work show great potential in applications for thermal energy storage, food preservation, wound dressing, and etc.