Foam Concrete Produced with Recycled Concrete Powder and Phase Change Materials

In construction industry, phase change materials (PCMs), have recently been studied and found effective in increasing energy efficiency of buildings through their high capacity to store thermal energy. In this study, a combination of Capric (CA)-Palmitic acid (PA) with optimum mass ratio of 85–15% is used and impregnated with recycled concrete powder (RCP). The resulting composite is produced as foam concrete and tested for a series of physico-mechanical, thermal and microstructural properties. The results show that recycled concrete powder can host PCMs without leaking if used in proper quantity. Further, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that the produced RCP/CA-PA composites have a latent heat capacity of 34.1 and 33.5 J/g in liquid and solid phases, respectively, which is found to remain stable even after 300 phase changing cycles. In this regard, the indoor temperature performance of the rooms supplied with composite foams made with PCMs, showed significantly enhanced efficiency. In addition, it is shown that inclusion of PCMs in foam concrete can significantly reduce porosity and pore connectivity, resulting in enhanced mechanical properties. The results are found promising and point to the suitability of using RCP-impregnated PCMs in foam composites to enhance thermo-regulative performance of buildings. On this basis, the use of PCMs for enhanced thermal properties of buildings are recommended, especially to be used in conjunction with foam concrete.