Structural Analysis of Phase Change Materials (PCMs)/Expanded Graphite (EG) Composites and Their Thermal Behavior under Hot and Humid Conditions

Kai Yang; Xiuling Zhang; Mohanapriya Venkataraman; Jakub Wiener; Sundaramoorthy Palanisamy; Sebnem Sozcu; Xiaodong Tan; Dana Kremenakova; Guocheng Zhu; Juming Yao; Jiri Militky

doi:10.1002/cplu.202300081

Structural Analysis of Phase Change Materials (PCMs)/Expanded Graphite (EG) Composites and Their Thermal Behavior under Hot and Humid Conditions

Chempluschem. 2023 Apr;88(4):e202300081. doi: 10.1002/cplu.202300081.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Material Engineering, Faculty of Textile Engineering, Technical University of Liberec, Studentska 1402/2, Liberec, Czech Republic.
² College of Textiles and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-tech University, Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
³ Zhejiang-Czech Joint Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, Zhejiang Sci-tech University, Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
⁴ School of Materials and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-tech University, Second Avenue, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, No. 818 Fenghua Road, Jiangbei District, Ningbo City, P.R. China.

PMID: 36951444
DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202300081

Abstract

Expanded graphite (EG) has been used to store phase change materials (PCM) to enhance thermal conductivity and avoid leakage. However, systematic investigation on physical structure of various embedded PCMs in EG is not reported. Besides, the effect of environment on thermal behavior of PCM/EG composites has not been investigated yet. In this work, three common PCMs (including myristic acid (MA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and paraffin wax (PW)) were embedded in EG and three PCM/EG composites were obtained. As a result, capillary force between EG and PCMs supported encapsulation of PCMs in EG. PCM/EG composites had narrower phase change range while supercooling degree values were different when various PCMs were used. Besides, the hot and humid environment had a side effect on thermal energy storage of PCMs and PCM/EG composites. The inherent hydrophilicity of PCMs was essential for resistance against side effect of moisture on thermal energy storage.

Keywords: expanded graphite; phase change material; relative humidity; thermal behavior.

Abstract

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