High latent heat and recyclable shape stable phase change materials with dynamic ester bonds for thermal management

Abstract

Organic phase-change materials (PCMs) are extensively utilized for thermal energy storage and thermal management. However, they often suffer from low thermal conductivity and a reduction in latent heat after shape stabilization. In this study, a novel shape-stabilized PCM (SSPCM) with high latent heat was synthesized via the carboxyl/epoxy reaction between carboxyl-functionalized polyethylene glycol (PEG–COOH), mono-carboxylic lauric acid (LA) and glycerol triglycidyl ether (GTE). The carboxyl/epoxy reaction results in a polymer network containing dynamic ester bonds, which impart excellent leak-proof performance and recyclability to the prepared SSPCM. The results show that the confined PEG and LA chains provide a high latent heat of 121.0 J g⁻¹. Moreover, incorporating 30 wt% boron nitride (BN) increases the thermal conductivity of the SSPCM composite to 1.41 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹. Thermal-management experiments demonstrate that the resulting material can be efficiently employed as a thermal interface material.