Cuprous oxide modified nanoencapsulated phase change materials fabricated by RAFT miniemulsion polymerization for thermal energy storage and photothermal conversion

Phase change materials (PCMs) have great promise in many fields related to energy utilization and thermal management. However, PCMs face challenges large-scale applications due the intrinsic melting leakage, low conductivity poor photothermal conversion. Herein, nanoencapsulated phase (NanoPCMs) were fabricated by RAFT miniemulsion polymerization using quaternized poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (QPDMAEMA-b-PMMA) as emulsifier. N-octadecane n-butyl stearate used binary cores, Cu2O nanoparticles doped into PMMA hybrid shell. The resulting Cu2O/PMMA-NanoPCMs had an encapsulation efficiency of 86.68%, excellent stability cycle durability. was enhanced 67.25% compared with original nanocapsules. Furthermore, cotton fabrics finished showed fast response superior Therefore, synthesized nanocapsules are considered potential candidates field solar smart thermo-regulated textiles.