Thermal characteristics analysis of a phase change material under the influence of nanoparticles

Abstract

Thermal characteristics such as latent potential during phase shift, supercooling and thermal conductivity of the phase changing materials (PCM) are the crucial parameters, which decide their thermal storage capability. In this current investigation, such thermal characteristics of a PCM were studied under the influence of copper oxide (CuO) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles at a low mass concentration. The nanoparticle doped PCMs were prepared by the way of two-step procedure and named as nPCM 1 and nPCM 2. Then, the required tests had steered with the support of necessary instruments. The results revealed that the supercooling of the PCM was curtailed by 40% and 31.42%, respectively by CuO and Al2O3 nanoparticles. Whereas, PCM’s thermal conductivity was enriched by 60.56% and 39.44%, while using CuO and Al2O3 nanoparticles, respectively. Contrariwise, the inherent latent potential concerning to the tested PCM was suppressed meagerly during thermal cycling by the addition of nanoparticles. As a whole, CuO nanoparticles showcased a better improvement in necessary thermal parameters of the PCM in relative to the Al2O3 nanoparticles.