Multistimuli Responsive and Thermoregulated Capability of Coaxial Electrospun Membranes with Core-sheath Structure and Functional Polypyrrole Layer

Developing thermal management fabrics with good energy storage and multistimuli responsive properties is important for regulating the body temperature in complex environment. Herein, the intelligent nonwoven membranes were fabricated via a coaxial electrospinning method, resulting in a core-sheath structure with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as core and polyurethane (PU) as sheath. Additionally, polypyrrole (PPy) with good light absorption ability and electrical conductivity was deposited onto the surface of the PU@PEG electrospun fibers via electrochemical polymerization. The PPy layer enabled the membranes to respond quickly to sunlight and electrical stimuli. The membranes could heat up to 86 °C under simulated sunlight within 200 s or produce remarkable electrothermal effect under a low voltage input of only 1 V, exhibiting efficient energy conversion and storage performances. The photothermal and electrothermal conversion effect could be easily adjusted by controlling the polymerization time of PPy. Therefore, the multifunctional membranes with high latent heat, good mechanical properties as well as excellent photothermal/electrothermal conversion ability are promising in personal thermal management applications.