Poly(mono/diethylene glycol n-tetradecyl ether vinyl ether)s with Various Molecular Weights as Phase Change Materials

At present, research on the relationship of comb-like polymer phase change material structures and their heat storage performance is scarce. Therefore, this relationship from both micro and macro perspectives will be studied in this paper. In order to achieve a high phase change enthalpy, ethylene glycol segments were introduced between the vinyl and the alkyl side chains. A series of poly(mono/diethylene glycol n-tetradecyl ether vinyl ethers) (PC₁₄E_nVEs) (n = 1, 2) with various molecular weights were polymerized by living cationic polymerization. The results of PC₁₄E₁VE and PC₁₄E₂VE showed that the minimum number of carbon atoms required for side-chain crystallization were 7.7 and 7.2, which were lower than that reported in the literature. The phase change enthalpy 89 J/g (for poly(mono ethylene glycol n-tetradecyl ether vinyl ethers)) and 86 J/g (for poly(hexadecyl acrylate)) were approximately equal. With the increase of molecular weight, the melting temperature, the melting enthalpy, and the initial thermal decomposition temperature of PC₁₄E₁VE changed from 27.0 to 28.0 °C, from 95 to 89 J/g, and from 264 to 287 °C, respectively. When the number average molar mass of PC₁₄E_nVEs exceeded 20,000, the enthalpy values remained basically unchanged. The introduction of the ethylene glycol chain was conducive to the crystallization of alkyl side chains.