Fabrication Of Multifunctional Microcapsules Containing N-Eicosane Core And Zinc Oxide Shell For Low-Temperature Energy Storage, Photocatalysis, And Antibiosis

Energy shortage has become an important factor and a common problem that restrict humanbeings' development, so the improvement in efficiency of energy utilization and the development of renewable energy materials have become an urgent task. In practice, the energy usually faces the unnecessary. Energy storage materials play a key role in high efficient, clean, and versatile use of energy and are of significance in the improvement of energy efficiency. By encapsulating phase change materials (PCMs) into hermetically sealed mini containers, the microencapsulated PCMs maintain their macroscopic solid form during the phase change processes to improve the ease of handling. And microcapsuled phase change materials solve the problems that the unstability of solid-liquid phase change materials, low thermal conductivity, and volume change in use. It provides a large heat transfer area as well as structural strength for the use in a wider application range.In this article, we designed a kind of zinc coated phase change material microcapsule that has both antimicrobial properties and optical characteristics of the degradation of organic pollutants. The multifunctional microencapsulated PCMs with a zinc oxide (ZnO) shell can meet the requirement for a type of surgical bandages that cannot only generate an antibacterial action but also provide a cooling effect for the wound so as to promote its healing. The microencapsulated n-eicosane with a ZnO shell was synthesized through an in-situ precipitation method in an oil-in-water emulsion templating system. The morphology and surface elemental distribution of microcapsule samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and XPS measures were taken to confirm its chemical compositions. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and FTIR were used to confirm the thermal stability and working reliability of the ZnO multifunctional microcapsules. Besides, the photodegradation and antibacterial activity of the ZnO multifunctional microcapsules were appropriate for using of surgical bandages.