Sepiolite supported stearic acid composites for thermal energy storage
Abstract
In this paper, novel composite phase change materials (PCMs) were prepared by absorbing stearic acid (SA) into sepiolite (α-sepiolite, β-sepiolite) via a vacuum impregnation method. The microstructures, thermal properties and thermal reliability of the composite PCMs were characterized by SEM, TG and DSC. The results indicate that the maximum SA absorption of α-sepiolite (α-SPL) and β-sepiolite (β-SPL) could reach as high as 60% and 49%. The latent heat of α-SPL/SA and β-SPL/SA were 118.7 J g−1 and 95.8 J g−1, respectively. The thermal cyclic test indicated α-SPL/SA and β-SPL/SA composites have excellent structural stability and thermal reliability. The thermal performance of the composite PCM gypsum boards was also evaluated. The composite PCMs could have a great potential application for thermal energy storage.