Ethylene-Propylene Terpolymer-Modified Polyethylene-Based Phase Change Material with Enhanced Mechanical and Thermal Properties for Building Application

Abstract

An enhanced mechanical and thermal property phase change composite was successfully prepared. A paraffin is absorbed by expanded graphite and is confined by polyethylene, Ethylene-propylene terpolymer is added and cross-linked to polyethylene to improve mechanical and thermal properties. Melting temperature and latent heat of the composite are 41.5 °C and 143.8 J g–1, respectively. The as-prepared composite shows 4-fold thermal conductivity, 8-fold tensile strength, and 3-fold impact strength enhancement as compared to EG/paraffin. Further, the thermal insulation property of the phase change composite was numerically investigated. The results show that low thermal conductivity and large thickness has an advantage on delaying increasing temperature of the roof in the daytime. The enthalpy has little effect on the temperature of the room, and the phase change composite with melting temperature of 40 °C was most suitable for the building roof. The results show that the optimized phase change composite has gr...