Method of encapsulating a phase change material

Abstract

A method of encapsulating a phase change material includes providing a co-axial ejector including first and second coaxially-disposed outlets, with the first outlet being inside of and surrounded by the second outlet. A core composition including a phase change material is fed to the first outlet. A coating composition is fed to the second outlet. The core composition and the coating composition are simultaneously ejected from the ejector onto a collector. The core composition is surrounded by the coating composition and together ejected onto the collector to form an encapsulated core-shell phase change material fiber. No voltage is applied to the ejector during ejection, and the method does not include electrospinning. The core-shell fiber has a phase change material core surrounded by a polymer shell and a diameter in the range of 10-10,000 μm. The core constitutes from 30% to 97% by volume of the core-shell fiber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.