Phase change microcapsules in thermal Energy applications:A critical review

Phase change microcapsules can carry large amounts of heat and be dispersed into other mediums either as a solid composite or as slurry fluids without changes to their appearance or fluidity. These two standout features make phase change microcapsules ideal for use in thermal energy applications to enhance the efficiency of energy utilisation. This review paper includes methods used for the encapsulation of phase change materials, especially the method suitable for large scale productions, the trends of phase change microcapsule development and their use in thermal energy applications in static and dynamic conditions. The effect of phase change microcapsules on convective heat transfer through addition to thermal fluids as slurries is critically reviewed. The review highlighted that so far the phase change microcapsules used mainly have polymeric shells, which has very low thermal conductivities. Their enhancement in convective heat transfer was demonstrated in locations where the phase change material experiences phase change. The phase change results in the slurries having higher apparent local specific heat capacities and thus higher local heat transfer coefficients. Out of the phase change region, no enhancement is observed from the solid microcapsule particles due to the low specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the phase change microcapsules compared to that of water, which is normally used as slurry media in the test. To further the research in this area, phase change microcapsules with higher specific heat capacity, higher thermal conductivity and better shape stability need to be applied.

Preparation of Phase Change Microcapsule and Its Plication in Textiles

Phase change microcapsules(PCMs)are prepared with n-hexadecane and n-octadecane as core material,and melamine-formaldehyde resin is used as shell material by in-situ polymerization.Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)was used to analyze the phase change properties.Thermal conductivity and maximum heat flux of cotton fabric finished with PCMs before and after being washed were also measured.It has been found that melting and crystal enthalpy of the PCMs decrease with decreasing the core/shell ratio,while qmax of fabric treated with PCMs decreases and the thermal conductivity increases.Study shows that fabric finished by the PCMs has good temperature conditioning function.

Preparation and Performance of n-Dodecane Microencapsulated Phase Change Cold Storage Materials

Cold chain transportation is currently a hot research topic.Since the traditional refrigeration methods lead to the consumption of large amounts of energy,the search for new energy storage materials is a major trend.In the present contribution,n-dodecane/PMMA microencapsulated phase change materials were prepared by suspension polymerization for ice-temperature cold chain transportation and their preparation parameters were explored using the encapsulation ratio as optimization indicator.The results show that the n-dodecane-containing microcapsules have a maximum encapsulation ratio of 93.2%when using a core-to-wall ratio of 3:1,5%of emulsifier,30%of crosslinker,and 2000 rpm of emulsification speed.The phase transition temperature and enthalpy are-2℃and 195.9 kJ/kg,respectively.The microcapsules prepared with the optimized process parameters have good microscopic morphology,high energy storage efficiency,uniform particle size and good thermal stability,making them ideal materials for cold chain transportation.

Research on microcapsules of phase change materials

Microcapsule technology is a kind of technology wrapping the solid or liquid into minute-sized particles within the field of micrometer or millimeter with film forming materials. This thesis introduces microcapsule technology of phase change materials and its main functions and the structural composition, preparation methods and characterization technology of microcapsule of phase change materials. The microcapsule of phase change materials is small in size and its temperature remains unchanged during the process of heat absorption and heat release. It is of great value in research and application prospect due to these characteristics.

Preparation and performance of novel magnetic phase-change-microcapsule-supported Bi_(2)WO_(6)catalyst

The design and synthesis of novel photocatalyst with self-temperature control function is an important topic in the field of advanced environmental functional materials.In this work,submicron-sized magnetic phase change microcapsules composed of paraffin core and Fe_(3)O_(4)-loaded silica shell are prepared,on which the Bi_(2)WO_(6)crystals is grown in situ through hydrothermal reaction to obtain novel magnetic phase-change-microcapsule-supported Bi_(2)WO_(6)catalyst(MP@FS/BWO).The MP@FS/BWO has a paraffin encapsulation ratio of 57.1%,and the phase change enthalpy of 105.1 J/g in a temperature range of 50–60℃,which endows the MP@FS/BWO with a certain self-temperature regulation ability.MP@FS/BWO shows excellent catalytic performance in the decomposition of rhodamine B under the simulated sunlight irradiation.After the light source is turned off,it still has good catalytic ability by maintaining high temperature due to its temperature control function based on the phase transition process.The MP@FS/BWO can be easily recycled by magnetic separation and shows good structural stability and reusability.This work provides a new idea for the development of long-effect and energy-saving outdoor photocatalysts.

Photothermal phase change material microcapsules via cellulose nanocrystal and graphene oxide co-stabilized Pickering emulsion for solar and thermal energy storage

Phase change materials(PCMs)have attracted significant attention in thermal management due to their ability to store and release large amounts of heat during phase transitions.However,their widespread application is restricted by leakage issues.Encapsulating PCMs within polymeric microcapsules is a promising strategy to prevent leakage and increase heat transfer area with matrices.Moreover,photothermal PCM microcapsules are particularly desirable for solar energy storage.Herein,we fabricated photothermal PCM microcapsules with melamine-formaldehyde resin(MF)as shell using cellulose nanocrystal(CNC)and graphene oxide(GO)co-stabilized Pickering emulsion droplets as templates.CNC displays outstanding Pickering emulsifying ability and can facilitate the fixation of GO at the oil-water interface,resulting in a stable CNC/GO co-stabilized PCM Pickering emulsion.A polydopamine(PDA)layer was coated in-situ on the emulsion droplets via oxidization self-polymerization of dopamine.Meanwhile,GO was reduced to reduced GO(rGO)due to the reducing ability of PDA.The outmost MF shell of the PCM microcapsules was formed in-situ through the polymerization and crosslinking of MF prepolymer.The resulted PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsules exhibit uniform sizes in the micrometer range,excellent leakage-proof performance,high phase change enthalpy(175.4 J g^(−1))and PCM encapsulation content(84.2%).Moreover,the presence of rGO and PDA endows PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsules with outstanding photothermal conversion performance.The temperature of PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsule slurries(15wt.%)can reach 73°C after light irradiation at 1 W cm^(−2).Therefore,photothermal PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsules are promising for solar energy harvesting,thermal energy storage,and release in various applications,such as energy-efficient buildings and smart textiles.

Synthesis of N-Alkane Mixture Microcapsule and Its Application in Low-Temperature Protective Fabric

We investigated synthesis and characterization of melamine-urea-formaldehyde（MUF） microcapsules containing n-alkane mixture as phase change core material for thermal energy storage and low-temperature protection. The phase change microcapsules（microPCMs） were prepared by an in situ polymerization using sodium dodecyl sulfate（SDS） and polyvinyl alcohol（PVA） as emulsifiers. Surface morphology, particle size, chemical structure, and thermal properties of microPCMs were, respectively, characterized by using scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, field emission scanning electron microscopy（FESEM）, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR）, differential scanning calorimetry（DSC）, and thermal gravimetric analysis（TGA）. Low-temperature resistance performances were measured at-15,-30,-45, and-60 ℃ after microPCMs were coated on a cotton fabric by foaming technology. The results showed that spherical microPCMs had 4.4 μm diameter and 100 nm wall thickness. The melting and freezing temperatures and the latent heats of the microPCMs were determined as 28.9 and 29.6 ℃ as well as 110.0 and 115.7 J/g, respectively. Encapsulation of n-alkane mixture achieved 84.9 %. TGA analysis indicated that the microPCMs had good chemical stability below 250 ℃. The results showed that the microencapsulated n-alkane mixture had good energy storage potential. After the addition of 10 % microPCMs, low-temperature resistance duration was prolonged by 126.9%, 145.5%, 128.6%, and 87.5% in environment of-15,-30,-45 and-60 ℃, respectively as compared to pure fabric. Based on the results, phase change microcapsule plays an effective role in lowtemperature protection field for the human body.