Effect of CuO-GnP binary mixture on thermal properties of organic PCM

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental investigation on the thermal properties of mono and hybrid nanoPCM. Paraffin wax (PW) as base PCM is doped with CuO nanoparticles and CuO-GnP binary mixture respectively. CuO weight fraction is varied in PW from 0.5% −2.5%. The maximum improvement of 28.11% is noted in thermal conductivity at 2 wt% of CuO. GnP with loading levels of 0.5% − 2% are added to PW having constant wt% of CuO. The maximum improvement of 150.69% in thermal conductivity occurs at 1.5 wt% of GnP. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis shows latent heat and melting point of pure PW is reduced by 3.68% and 11.32% at 2 wt% concentration of CuO. On addition of GnP to the PW/CuO composite, the latent heat and melting point of PW/CuO GnP composite increases upto 1.5 wt% of GnP. Hence addition of CuO-GnP hybrid mixture to paraffin is viable solution for management of thermal energy storage.