? 2022 Elsevier B.V.Leather as a material is well known for its application in cold climatic conditions. However, its use is challenged in extreme cold weather conditions. To make leathers suitable for such applications, they must be treated with phase change materials (PCMs) known for thermal energy storage (TES). Nano and microencapsulation enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of the PCMs by increasing the heat transfer area and preventing the leakage of PCMs. In this study, we have used silicone oil as PCM, which was encapsulated using PMMA through emulsion polymerization. The synthesized nano-encapsulated PCM (NEPCM) has been characterized by FT-IR, DSC, DLS, FE-SEM, and HR-TEM analysis. The synthesized NEPCMs have particle size in the range of ～ 150–220 nm. The optimised NEPCM has been coated on the leather surface to enhance the leather application in extreme cold weather conditions and the coated leather offers excellent cold insulation property up to 4.0 ± 0.2 °C higher than control leather in extremely cold weather test conditions.
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