Preparation and thermal performance of polyurethane/PEG as novel form-stable phase change materials for thermal energy storage

Abstract

In this study, a series of the cross-linked polyurethane (PU)/PEG4000 blend was synthesized as novel form-stable phase change materials (FSPCMs) for thermal energy storage through a facile and solvent-free synthetic strategy. In the obtained FSPCM, the PU functioned not only as supporting materials but as phase change substance. The PEG in FSPCM acted as phase change substance. The influence of PEG4000 content on the crystalline properties, phase change properties, thermal reliability and stability was extensively studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal cycling test and thermogravimetric analysis (TG), respectively. Moreover, the chemical and crystalline structure of obtained PU and FSPCM was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and polarizing microscope (POM). XRD and POM results indicated that the obtained FSPCM has similar crystalline structure to PEG. DSC results showed that FSPCM appears superior phase change properties with the phase change temperature and the latent heat in the range of 27.73–48.94 °C and 72.19–113.4 J g−1, respectively. The thermal cycling test and TG verified the excellent thermal reliability and stability of FSPCM. The obtained FSPCM exhibited great potential in the field of TES such as the solar energy collection system, exterior wall thermal insulation systems and hot water circulation system.