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Abstract
This paper mainly concentrates on the thermal conductivity and photo-thermal conversion performance of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) composite phase change materials (PCMs). The temperature-assisted solution blending method is used to prepare PCM with different mass fraction of GNPs. According to the scanning electron microscope (SEM), GNPs are evenly distributed in the PEG matrix, forming a thermal conduction pathway. The Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the composites can still inherit the crystallization structure of PEG, moreover, there are only physical reactions between PEG and GNPs rather than chemical reactions. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermal conductivity analysis results indicate that it may be beneficial to add a low loading ration of GNPs to obtain the suitable latent heat as well as enhance the thermal conductivity of composites. To investigate the change in the rheological behavior due to the effect of GNPs, the viscosity of the composites was measured as well. The photo-thermal energy conversion experiment indicates that the PEG/GNPs composites show better performance in photothermal energy conversion, moreover, the Ultraviolet-visible-Near Infrared spectroscopy is applied to illustrate the reasons for the higher absorption efficiency of PEG/GNPs for solar irradiation.
Highlights
The rapid consumption of fossil fuels and the increasing contradiction between energy supply and demand are compelling researchers to utilize energy more effectively and develop renewable energy [1]
The polyethylene glycol (PEG)/graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) nanocomposites with various contents of GNPs have been successfully prepared with the objective of investigating the enhanced thermal conductivity and photothermal performance of this nanocomposites
scanning electron microscope (SEM) reveal that the GNPs are uniformly dispersed in the PEG matrix and construct a heat conduction way
Summary
The rapid consumption of fossil fuels and the increasing contradiction between energy supply and demand are compelling researchers to utilize energy more effectively and develop renewable energy [1]. The pristine PEG as OPCMs in the utilization of solar energy has intrinsic shortcomings, including low thermal conductivity and poor absorptive performance in the optical light, which accounts for 50% of the solar radiation energy. The former refers to the speed of absorbing and releasing thermal energy, which can reduce the energy efficiency [18]. The composites exhibit a better performance in absorbing and conversing solar energy in comparison with the traditional organic PCMs. the outstanding thermal conductivity and photothermal performance make the PEG/GNPs composites a promising candidate for solar thermal energy storage application
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