New fibers from PCM using the conventional melt spinning process

Due to the increasing demand for technical textiles, particularly regarding functional textiles for clothing and home textiles, further developments have mainly focused on the investigation and fabrication of functional chemical textile fibers. The Institute for Textile Machinery and Textile High-Performance Materials (ITM) is currently developing a new type of functional fiber made from Phase Change Materials (PCM) using the simple and conventional melt spinning method on a standard industrial-scale melt spinning machine. PCM had originally been considered one of the most effective thermal energy storage systems for buildings. However, we recently have successfully incorporated innovative PCM pellets in the form of bi-component core and sheath multifilament yarns with a PCM content of 32 volume percent; they offer high latent heat up to 22.2 J/g, which is almost three times as high as that of the state-of-the-art fibers.