Enhanced thermal insulation performance of polyethylene glycol-based polyurethane/W-doped VO2 composite phase change coating

Polyurethane (PU) is widely used in construction, fabric, leather and other fields due to its advantages of good heat resistance and high strength. However, there are few reports on the introduction of composite phase change materials into PU emulsion to synergistically improve its thermal insulation performance. In this paper, W-doped VO2 (W-VO2) particles were first prepared by hydrothermal method. Then, polyethylene glycol 1000 (PEG1000) was used as a soft segment to prepare polyethylene glycol-based polyurethane (PEG-PU) emulsion by prepolymerization dispersion method. Finally, W-VO2 was added to obtain PEG-PU/W-VO2 composite emulsion and film. Based on a series of results, the phase transition temperature of W-VO2 decreased from 67.7 °C to 52.2 °C. Furthermore, sunlight simulation experiments demonstrated that the thermal insulation performance of PEG-PU/W-VO2 composite film was significantly improved under the synergistic effect of PEG1000 and W-VO2. Specifically speaking, compared with PU film, the infrared isolation rate of PEG-PU/W-VO2 composite film increased by 59.3 %. Meanwhile, the infrared reflective and heat preservation performance increased by 20.5 °C and 15 °C, respectively. In conclusion, the development of this research is helpful for the development of thermal insulation coating, which is of great significance to meet the current needs of society.