Fabrication and characterization of phase change material-SiO2 nanocomposite for thermal energy storage in buildings

doi:10.1016/j.est.2019.101168

Journal of Energy Storage

Volume 27, February 2020, 101168

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2019.101168 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
A novel PCM nanocomposite was fabricated via a simple impregnation method.
•
PCM nanocomposite had a good thermal reliability, even after 1000 melting/freezing cycles.
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Thermal conductive property of n-heptadecane was enhanced by SiO₂ nanoparticles.
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Gypsum composite board containing PCM nanocomposite showed acceptable temperature control performance.
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PCM nanocomposite can be suitable for storing thermal energy and indoor temperature regulation in the buildings.

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCMs), which can absorb or release large latent heat over a defined temperature range while the phase transition occurs, have achieved huge attention due to the environmental concerns and energy crisis. In recent years, phase change material nanocomposites are extensively used in thermal energy storage and energy management. Here, a shape-stabilised PCM nanocomposite, consisting n-hetadecane as a PCM and SiO₂ nanoparticles as a supportive material was successfully prepared using an impregnation method with different mass fraction of PCM. The formation of n-heptadecane-SiO₂ nanocomposite was approved using X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, and SEM studies. The melting and freezing latent heats of the nanocomposite reached 123.8 and 120.9 J/g, respectively, and the mass loading percentage of n-hetadecane in the nanocomposite which was estimated using DSC was about 54.6 wt.%. The resulting nanocomposite possessed excellent thermal cycling reliability and its thermal conductivity was also improved compared to pure n-heptadecane. Additionally, Gypsum composite board containing n-hetadecane-SiO₂ nanocomposite showed acceptable temperature control performance compared to ordinary gypsum board and hence, the obtained nanocomposite can be suitable for storing thermal energy and indoor temperature regulation in the buildings.

Introduction

Energy is an essential requirement for the economic growth and development of any country. High global energy demand and concern about the fossil fuels depletion, besides environmental impacts of these fuels consumption headed to the huge attention to conserve energy [1,2].

The utilization of latent heat of phase change materials (PCMs) for energy storage is considered one of the most promising and useful techniques for increasing energy efficiency and energy saving [3,4]. PCMs are characterized by storage and release of large amounts of thermal energy during phase transition processes at a certain temperature and high density of latent heat [5], [6], [7]. However, two major drawbacks of PCMs are low thermal conductivity and large volume change during their phase change processes which cause leakage of PCM, limit their practical applications in thermal energy storage [8,9]. The shape-stabilization is an effective strategy to prevent the leakage and enhance the energy storage capacity of PCM. Hence, selecting an appropriate inorganic carrier matrix for PCMs is a promising idea to enhance their performance. Various supporting materials including polymers [10,11], carbon materials [1,12], diatomite [13], metal oxide nanoparticles [14,15] have been used to overcome these challenges.

Amongst these, SiO₂ nanoparticles as a vital inorganic amorphous material are promising as a supporting material for PCMs owing to its great thermal stability, flame-retardant feature, suitable thermal conductivity, non-toxicity, outstanding compatibility with construction materials, and excellent mechanical properties [16].

A review of the previous researches indicates that there has no report on the n-heptadecane-SiO₂ nanocomposite fabrication and evaluation as a thermal energy storage material. Thus, in this paper, we used n-heptadecane as a PCM with wide range of mass fractions and SiO₂ nanoparticle as a supportive material to form n-heptadecane – SiO₂ nanocomposite through impregnation method (Fig. 1). The morphology and structural investigations of the nanocomposite were performed by XRD, FTIR and SEM techniques. Thermal storage capacity of the nanocomposite was searched using DSC analysis and thermal cycling test was made to study the thermal reliability and reusability of the nanocomposite. The thermo-regulating performances of the PCM nanocomposite in gypsum was also measured and evaluated by developing the small test room to simulate a building.

Section snippets

Materials

Absolute ethanol was supplied from R&M Chemicals (UK). SiO₂ nanoparticle (20–30 nm) was obtained from US Research Nanomaterials, Inc, while n-heptadecane (C₁₇H₃₆, molecular weight 240.475 g/mol) was acquired from Merck (Germany).

Fabrication of PCM-SiO₂ nanocomposite

The synthesis of n-heptadecane- SiO₂ nanocomposite was done through impregnation technique. The melted n-heptadecane was dissolved in absolute ethanol. Around 0.5 g, SiO₂ nanoparticles were also dispersed in absolute ethanol and then dissolved n-heptadecane was slowly

Powder X-ray diffraction

Fig. 3 exhibits the XRD pattern of SiO₂ nanoparticle (A), and n-heptadecane-SiO₂ nanocomposites with different weight percentages of n-heptadecane, A1-A5 (B-F). The XRD pattern of SiO₂ nanoparticle (Fig. 3A) demonstrates an amorphous structure with a broad peak at 2θ = =15–27^◦ [16,17]. It can be seen from the XRD pattern of A5 nanocomposite (Fig. 3F) that the presence of n-heptadecane was reflected by the observation of two peaks at 2Ɵ = 21.2 and 22.9° [18], while the diffraction peak of SiO₂

Conclusion

A novel PCM nanocomposite with improved thermal conductivity and great phase change behaviour, and excellent thermal stability was fabricated based on n-heptadecane core and SiO₂ nanoparticles framework. DSC analysis indicated that A5 nanocomposite had an enthalpy of 123.8 and 120.9 J/g for melting and crystallization, respectively, and accelerated thermal cycling test certified that A5 nanocomposite showed a good thermal reliability, even after 500 melting/freezing cycles. In addition, the

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Samira Golestani Ranjbar: Formal analysis, Data curation. Ghodratollah Roudini: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Validation. Farahnaz Barahuie: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Fabrication and characterization of phase change material-SiO2 nanocomposite for thermal energy storage in buildings

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Materials

Fabrication of PCM-SiO2 nanocomposite

Powder X-ray diffraction

Conclusion

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Declaration of Competing Interest

J. Energy Storage

Energy Build.

J. Energy Storage

J. Energy Storage

Appl. Therm. Eng.

J. Energy Storage

Energy Convers. Manag.

J. Energy Storage

Constr. Build. Mater.

J. Energy Storage

Constr. Build. Mater.

Thermochim. Acta

J. Energy Storage

Energy Build.

Fabrication and characterization of phase change material-SiO₂ nanocomposite for thermal energy storage in buildings

Fabrication of PCM-SiO₂ nanocomposite