Additive manufacturing of shape-stabilized composite phase change materials via ultraviolet curing

Abstract

Material composition can ensure structural strength and avoid leakage of phase change materials. Here, a novel preparation method was present for shape-stabilized composite phase change materials of photosensitive resin and polyethylene glycol via UV curing, in which the resin was cured into the supporting frame and used to encapsulate polyethylene glycol. The thermal and mechanical performance of the samples composited by the proposed method were measured. The sample with PEG of 50 % resin mass fraction melted at 33.16 °C with a latent heat of 11.30 J/g. The stress-strain curves exhibited that the samples produced plastic deformation and ultimate compression strength (σb) and yield strength (σs) increased with the increase in the resin mass fraction. With increasing monolayer curing depth and exposure time during printing, σb first increased and then decreased. In this work, the optimal monolayer exposure time was 13.5 s, and the monolayer curing depth was 40 µm for the sample with a 50 % resin mass fraction.