Bifunctional Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes with Thermoregulatory and Thermochromic Properties

Smart temperature-controlled textiles with a thermochromic function have great application potential as multifunctional materials. Herein, an innovative smart temperature-management nanofiber membrane (PBCMs) with reversible thermochromic function was successfully prepared by the coelectrospinning method using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and reversible thermochromic materials (BCMs, containing bisphenol A (BPA), crystal violet lactone (CVL), and myristyl myristate (MM)) as raw materials. The SEM images show that the PBCMs nanofiber possesses a disordered 3D structure with a diameter of about 2.6 μm. The DSC results indicate that the PBCMs nanofiber membrane demonstrates an effective phase change behavior and excellent thermal reliability. The melting/crystallization enthalpies of the prepared PBCMs-0.8 nanofiber membrane with 80 wt % MM addition were determined to be 85.0 and 81.6 J/g, respectively. The PBCMs nanofiber membranes have been shown to exhibit an excellent thermal regulation performance. Furthermore, the PBCMs nanofiber membranes demonstrated the capacity to undergo a thermochromic transition from blue to white, with a temperature range of 28 to 40 °C. Notably, the PBCMs nanofiber membranes exhibited exceptional leakage resistance and dimensional stability, maintaining their integrity after undergoing 60 cycles. Additionally, the thermochromic functionality remained highly sensitive to temperature variations. The PBCMs nanofiber membranes prepared for this study have a wide range of applications in the field of smart thermochromic thermoregulatory textiles.