Cellulose nanofiber encapsulated polyethylene glycol phase change composites containing AIE-gen for monitoring leak process

The design of cellulose nanofiber (CNF)-encapsulated polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based phase change composites (PCCs) has shown great promise toward overcoming the phase transition process’s leakage. Whereas, the leakage is inescapable for intricate industrial occasions such as extrusion and collision. Thereby it’s requisite to monitor the products’ leakage. Herein, a fluorophore with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect was employed to prepare fluorescent PCCs. In detail, Pmix2 was picked to dip into the skeleton CNF6 to construct CNF6/Pmix2 with dim green. What’s more, the free fall of 500 g weight, 983 times of CNF6/Pmix2′s weight, was applied to the materials to simulate the possible force that occurred in real industrial processes. Obviously, CNF6/Pmix2′s leakage is seen on dark occasions, whereas CNF6/PEG’s leakage trace is hardly observed, evidencing CNF6/Pmix2 possesses the capacity of monitoring leakage. Additionally, CNF6/Pmix2 displays excellent thermal energy storage and reusability, illustrating promising energy conversion and storage applications.