Diatomite/Palm Wax Composite as a Phase Change Material for Latent Heat Storage

Abstract

Wider application of commercially produced phase change materials in production of building composites is limited due to their higher price and the inert polymer encapsulation which negatively affects mechanical parameters. This paper is focused on preparation of the composite material for energy savings. The phase change composite is prepared by soaking palm wax into the structure of diatomite powder using vacuum impregnation method. The compatibility of diatomite and palm wax in a newly developed PCM structure is investigated by FTIR spectroscopy. The improved thermal storage properties obtained by DSC analysis reveal melting temperature at 55.9°C and the phase change latent heat of 78.0 J/g. The laser diffraction based devise is used to determine the particle size distribution in order to assess the suitability of the developed wax/diatomite based composite for the cement based building materials. The obtained results indicate promising results from the point of view of improved latent heat storage at reasonable cost.