Form‐stable phase change materials supported by nanostructured zinc polyacrylate weakening super cooling of polyethylene glycol

Abstract

AbstractIn order to solve the leakage and distinct super cooling issues of polyethylene glycol (PEG), zinc polyacrylate was used as the supporting material to prepare PEG‐based form‐stable phase change materials (FSPCMs) in this paper. The polyacrylate fractions of zinc polyacrylate are crosslinked by zinc ions through electrovalent bonding. Due to the strong intermolecular force between PEG molecules and the crosslinked polyacrylate fractions, the PCMs have stabilized shape even at 90°C. Zinc ions will gather together because of the incompatibility between PEG matrix and zinc ions, to form nanostructure as the nucleating agent of PEG, weakening the supercooling of the FSPCMs. The enthalpy change values of the FSPCMs in the phase transition processes are all above 120.0 J g−1, showing good thermal energy storage capacity. Additionally, the FSPCMs after 100 times of thermal cycling possess similar thermal properties to the original ones, indicating that the nanostructured zinc polyacrylate has stable interaction with the PEG matrix.