Preparation of nanocapsules of palmitic acid with silica shells and their use as a phase change material within microcellular polyurethane foams

Abstract

A new nanoencapsulated phase change material (PCM) filled polyurethane microcellular foams is reported in this work. Palmitic acid nanocapsules with silica shells (PA@SiO2) is a well-known phase change material synthesized by the sol-gel process are loaded at selected weight ratios into microcellular polyurethane foam. FT-IR spectra revealed successful PA@SiO2 nanocapsules formation and FE-SEM images showed successful core-shell formation with spherical shapes with a mean diameter approximately 350 nm. TGA thermograms showed superior heat resistivity of prepared PCM in comparison with pristine palmitic acid at the final degradation temperature. DSC thermograms showed the heat storage potential of prepared nanoencapsulated PCM as well as corresponding polyurethane nanocomposites. The polyurethane nanocomposites characterized by FT-IR, TGA, FE-SEM as well as DSC methods and data interpreted in detail in order to evaluate the thermal storage capabilities of newly developed nanocomposites.