Abstract
We report enhanced thermal conductivity (TC) in palmitic acid (PA)-di-methyl formamide (DMF) based organic phase change material (PCM) loaded with four different nano-inclusions, viz., carbon black nano powder (CBNP), multiwalled carbon nanotube, graphene nanoplatelets and α-Al2O3. The phase transition temperature is tuned from ∼ 61 to 31 0C by varying the PA-to-DMF ratio. Significant TC enhancement (67–153 %) is achieved using the low density CBNP nano-inclusions which is beneficial for reducing the operational cost of PCMs. The fractal nature of the aggregates and volume filling capacity of CBNP leads to the formation of closely bound aggregates with reduced thermal barrier resistance that aided in efficient percolation heat transfer. Further, for the first time, we provide direct experimental evidence of microscale aggregation and cluster formation during liquid-solid phase transition in nano-inclusion loaded PCMs using optical phase contrast microscopy.
Published Version
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