Activated carbon derived from pine cone as a framework for the preparation of n-heptadecane nanocomposite for thermal energy storage

doi:10.1016/j.est.2019.100795

Journal of Energy Storage

Volume 24, August 2019, 100795

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2019.100795 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
We fabricate AC through physical and chemical activation methods using pine cone as a precursor.
•
AC was used as an inorganic framework for the preparation of phase change material nanocomposite.
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Incorporation of phase change material nanocomposite in gypsum board reduced the indoor temperature variation of the building, which could decrease energy consumption.

Abstract

This study deals with fabrication of activated carbon (AC) through physical and chemical activation methods using pine cone as a precursor, followed by the use of the AC as an inorganic framework for the preparation of phase change material (PCM) nanocomposite. The PCM nanocomposite, composed of n-heptadecane as the core and AC pores as a framework, was fabricated by one step impregnation method, with the mass fraction of n-heptadecane varying from 10 to 90 wt.%. The AC has a specific surface area of 905 m²/g and an average pore size of 25 Å. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and SEM results clearly indicate that the n-heptadecane was encapsulated into the AC pores. DSC (differential scanning calorimeter) analysis showed that the melting and freezing temperatures of the PCM nanocomposite were 25.1 °C and 18.0 °C, respectively, and its corresponding latent heat values were 138.2 Jg⁻¹ and 143.5 Jg⁻¹, respectively. The performance of PCM nanocomposite as a thermal energy storage material for building applications was examined by incorporation of the nanocomposite with gypsum. The results show that the incorporation of the n-heptadecane-AC nanocomposite in gypsum board reduces the indoor temperature variation of the building, which could decrease energy consumption.

Introduction

Thermal energy storage (TES) based on phase change materials (PCMs) is an advanced material, which can be used in improvement of efficient energy management and utilization.PCMs have gained great attention due to their capabilities of high energy storage capacity, high density and narrow operating temperature range [1,2] and hence, can be applied in solar heating systems [3,4], intelligent buildings [5,6], thermal insulation [7], smart textiles [8,9], biomedical and biological carrying systems [10], and temperature control greenhouses [11].This technology has been identified as one of the most advanced energy technologies in enhancing energy efficiency and fulfilling the gap between the global demand and supply of energy [12,13].

The organic PCMs (n-heptadecane, n-octadecane, n-nonadecane, and n-hexadecane) offer many desirable properties such as high heat of fusion, available in a large temperature range, compatible with conventional material of construction, freeze without much subcooling, ability to melt congruently, self-nucleating properties, no segregation, recyclable, safe and non-reactive, and chemically stable. [2,14,15] However, despite of a lot of advantages the organic PCMs suffer from low thermal conductivity and large volume change during their phase change process which lead to leakage of PCM which limits their application [[15], [16], [17]]. Many supporting materials such as polymers [18,19], metal and metal oxide nanoparticles [20,21], and carbon materials [[22], [23], [24]] used to curb this problem.

AC (AC) is one of the great porous carbon materials which can be used as a supporting material with ability to control the volume changes of the PCMs during the phase change processes, slightly increase low thermal conductivity of PCMs and protect the PCM from its external environment during its application. AC is composed of blocks of thin, defective graphene sheets randomly bound in a three-dimensional network, whereby the free spaces within the blocks are known as pores. The PCM is encapsulated into the pore structures of AC in the PCM-AC nanocomposite. [25]

Hussein et al. [26] used three types of ACs with different pore structures as frameworks, namely AC prepared from peat soil using phosphoric acid activation method and physical activation method, and a commercial AC to form n-octadecane-AC nanocomposite. The phase change properties of the n-octadecane-AC nanocomposite were controlled by the pore structure adsorption interaction of the n-octadecane on the AC and the specific surface area as an important parameter, which was directly proportional to the latent heat of fusion and encapsulation efficiency. The results showed the potential of peat soil as a cheap source for preparation of ctivated carbon which can be used as inorganic frameworks to form phase change material-AC nanocomposite.

Khadiran et al. [27] investigated the properties of Shape-stabilized n-octadecane-AC composite which was fabricated using simple impregnation method. The DSC results demonstrated that pure n-octadecane and the n-octadecane-AC composite showed similar thermal properties, which indicated that there was no chemical reaction between the n-octadecane and AC and low supercooling value of composite (6.8) compared to pure n-octadecane (7.2) showed the potential of nanocomposite as a good thermal energy storage system. Thermal conductivity and thermal stability of composite improved and additionally, composite showed a good thermal reliability, even after 1000 melting/freezing cycles.

Chen et al. [28] developed Shape-stabilized lauric acid-AC composite as phase change materials for thermal energy storage. The thermal conductivity of composite was enhanced upon the well adsorption of lauric acid into the porous network of the AC. In addition, the latent heat of composite was increased with increase of the lauric acid content in the composite and the thermal stability of the composite was improved as the carbonaceous layers create a physical protective barrier on the surface of the composite.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get the AC with similar pore size distribution, network-inner-connection and the geometrical shape. The pore structures of AC including BET specific surface area, average pore volume, and total pore diameter rely on the type of carbon precursor and activation method used. [[29], [30], [31]]

Numerous of industrial and agricultural wastes, such as waste tea [32], peat soil [31], pineapple peels [33], bamboo [34], nut shell (hazelnut, macadamia, almond, pistachio, and walnut shells) [35,36], lather waste [37], rice husks [38], fruit stones (grape seed, cherry stones, and apricot stone) [[39], [40], [41]], oil palm waste [42], cattail [43], durian shells [44], tobacco stems [45], coconut shells [46], waste tires [47], and industrial waste lignin [48], corncobs [49], are used to produce AC.

Pine cone a popular agricultural waste consists of several kinds of fibers including alpha cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin that can be utilized as a very economical raw material for the production of AC. However, there has been no report of the use of pine cone -based AC for the preparation of n-heptadecane-AC nanocomposite and it is also desirable to fabricate cost effective and efficient thermal energy storage system.

Therefore, we fabricate the AC from pine cone using physical and chemical activation methods. The pores of AC were used as a framework for the preparation of n-heptadecane-AC nanocomposite. The AC has multiple pores with a high-inner surface area, which lets it to be simply saturated with the melted n-heptadecane. We evaluate the thermal property, stability, and conductivity of the resulting nanocomposite. In addition, we investigate the performance of the n-heptadecane-AC nanocomposite in the building materials.

Section snippets

Materials

Pine cone (Fig. 1A) was collected from pine plantation area of Zahedan. The collected pine cones were washed thoroughly using tap water then distilled water, and oven -dried at 45 °C for 48 h. The dried pine cones were crushed, powdered using electric grinder machine, then sieved through a 0.35 mm sieve, and kept in a desiccator to be used as a precursor for AC (Fig. 1B) preparation. N-heptadecane, and H₃PO₄ were purchased from Merck (Germany). Absolute ethanol was obtained from R&M Chemicals

Powder X-ray diffraction

XRD patterns of the pine cone, AC and n-heptadecane-AC nanocomposite are displayed in Fig. 2(A–H). Fig. 2A, the XRD pattern of pine cone shows two peaks at 2θ = 15.68° and 22.04˚. The XRD patterns of the chemical-treated and physical treated AC show a broad peak at 2θ = 25°, which is attributable to the non-crystalline property of the AC. As detected in Fig. 2E and F, the intensity of AC was lower than that of the chemical treated ACs (Fig. 2B–D) and physical treated AC (5 h, 800) which

Conclusion

The synthesized AC was used as a framework for the preparation of a novel PCM nanocomposite via a simple impregnation technique. The porous AC effectively stabilize the melted n-heptadecane through the capillary force of the pores and surface tension forces, thus preventing the leakage of melted n-heptadecane during phase change processes. The optimum content of n-heptadecane in the nanocomposite was around 62.2% which determined using DSC data and the AC has increased thermal conductivity of

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Activated carbon derived from pine cone as a framework for the preparation of n-heptadecane nanocomposite for thermal energy storage

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Materials

Powder X-ray diffraction

Conclusion

Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells

Int. J. Heat Mass Transf.

Renew. Energy

Energy Convers. Manage.

Appl. Energy

Appl. Therm. Eng.

Appl. Therm. Eng.

Int. J. Therm. Sci.

Renew. Energy

Renew. Sust. Energy Rev.

Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev.

J. Mol. Liq.

Appl. Therm. Eng.

Thermochim. Acta

Energy Procedia

Appl. Therm. Eng.

Appl. Therm. Eng.

Int. J. Heat Mass Transf.

Energy Build.

Sol. Energy

Energy

Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells

Chem. Eng. J.

Fuel

Microporous Mesoporous Mater.

J. Hazard. Mater.

Ind. Crop Prod.

Miner. Eng.

Chem. Eng. J.