One-step preparation of macropore phase change materials enabled exceptional thermal insulation, thermal energy storage and long-term stability

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCMs) capable of reversibly storing and releasing thermal energy have been widely used in our daily life to reduce energy consumption. However, traditional PCMs are mainly focused on the promotion of their enthalpy and thermal conductivity yet are rarely noticed on incorporating their thermal energy storage capacity with thermal insulation performance. Herein, a kind of macropore PCMs (MPCMs) was synthesized by directly adding expanded microspheres into polyethylene glycol-based PCMs, in which the microspheres can form an internal closed porous structure in matrix for realizing thermal insulation and polyethylene glycol is used as the phase change component for achieving thermal energy storage. Amazingly, the designed MPCMs have significant latent heat storage capacity reached up to130.2 J g−1 and simultaneously possess extremely low thermal conductivity of 0.08577 W m−1 K−1. The thermal power generation system test further revealed the thermal insulation capability of these MPCMs was eleven times more than that of the commercial wood. Especially, these MPCMs with relatively low density of 0.492 g cm−3 can still maintain the remarkable tensile strength of 11.74 MPa and can also exhibit good toughness via multiple cyclic shape memory analysis. The focus of this work that is to combine the thermal insulation ability of porous materials with the thermal energy storage ability of PCMs, can effectively reduce the heat conduction meanwhile can maintain the stability of internal temperature contributed to reducing energy consumption, applying in food transportation, building energy conservation and other fields.