Energy Conversion Efficiency Enhancement of Polyethylene Glycol and a SiO2 Composite Doped with Ni, Co, Zn, and Sc Oxides

Md Hasan Zahir; Mohammad Mizanur Rahman; Kashif Irshad; M Nasiruzzaman Shaikh; Aasif Helal; Md Abdul Aziz; Amjad Ali; Firoz Khan

doi:10.1021/acsomega.2c02107

Energy Conversion Efficiency Enhancement of Polyethylene Glycol and a SiO₂ Composite Doped with Ni, Co, Zn, and Sc Oxides

ACS Omega. 2022 Jun 17;7(26):22657-22670. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c02107. eCollection 2022 Jul 5.

Authors

Md Hasan Zahir¹, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman², Kashif Irshad^{1

3}, M Nasiruzzaman Shaikh⁴, Aasif Helal⁴, Md Abdul Aziz⁴, Amjad Ali¹, Firoz Khan¹

Affiliations

¹ Interdisciplinary Research Center for Renewable Energy and Power Systems (IRC-REPS), Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
² Interdisciplinary Research Center for Advanced Materials, KFUPM, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
³ Researcher at K.A.CARE Energy Research & Innovation Center, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage, KFUPM, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Doping the SiO₂ support with Co, Ni, Zn, and Sc improves the thermal conductivity of a hybrid PEG/SiO₂ form-stable phase change material (PCM). Doping also improves the energy utilization efficiency and speeds up the charging and discharging rates. The thermal, chemical, and hydrothermal stability of the PEG/Zn-SiO₂ and PEG/Sc-SiO₂ hybrid materials is better than that of the other doped materials. The phase change enthalpy of PEG/Zn-SiO₂ is 147.6 J/g lower than that of PEG/Sc-SiO₂, while the thermal conductivity is 40% higher. The phase change enthalpy of 155.8 J/g of PEG/Sc-SiO₂ PCM is very close to that of the parent PEG. PEG/Sc-SiO₂ also demonstrates excellent thermal stability when subjected to 200 consecutive heating-cooling cycles and outstanding hydrothermal stability when examined under a stream at 120 °C for 2 h. The supercooling of the PEG/Sc-SiO₂ system is the lowest among the tested materials. In addition, the developed PCM composite has a high energy storage capacity and high thermal energy storage/release rates.