(1. School of Textile Science and Engineering, Xi’an Polytechnic University, Xi‘an 710048, China) (2. The Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, the Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnic University, Xi‘an 710129, China)
Due to the relatively better processability, safety and biodegradability, hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is widely used as supporting material to encapsulate phase change materials（PCMs） in its three-dimensional network structure, to solve the problem of the leakage of phase change components and make the composites obtain good thermal conductivity. On the basis of that, the methods compounding PCMs with PVA matrix through intermolecular forces of physical blending or covalent bonds of chemical grafting were reviewed. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods for encapsulating PCMs were compared. The types, forming methods and properties of PVA-based phase change composite were summarized. It includes phase change composite fibers prepared by wet spinning, dry spinning and electrostatic spinning, phase change composite films prepared by physical blending, and phase change composite porous materials prepared by one-step in-situ compounding. The effects of phase change components and forming process on the structure, thermal properties, mechanical performance and thermal stability of composites were analyzed. The research direction and development prospect of functional PVA-based phase change composites were also pointed out.