Abstract
The work involves the fabrication, characterization, and thermal properties of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/diatomite powder (DP), which can be used as a novel shape‐stabilized composite phase change material (CPCM). The maximum load of PEG in DP can reach 55% while PEG melts during solid–liquid phase transformation. Differential scanning calorimeter results indicated that the melting temperature of the new CPCMs could be adjusted from 34 to 59°C and that the solidifying temperature could be adjusted from 27 to 44°C. Corresponding latent heats of the melting and solidifying processes were 77.27–106.5 J/g and 72.07–94.93 J/g, respectively. Scanning electronic microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X‐ray diffraction results indicated that PEG was well dispersed in diatomite pores and no chemical changes took place during thermal cyclic test. Thermo‐gravimetric analysis indicated that the CPCMs had good thermal and chemical stability and reliability when diatomite was immersed into melting PEG at 75°C for 90 min. Thermal conductivity of the CPCMs increased from 0.36 to 0.71 W/mK after adding 10 wt% expanded graphite (EG). POLYM. COMPOS., 37:854–860, 2016. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers
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