Preparation, characterization, and thermal properties of microencapsulated phase change material for thermal energy storage

This study is focused on the preparation, characterization, and determination of thermal properties of microencapsulated docosane with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) as phase change material for thermal energy storage. Microencapsulation of docosane has been carried out by emulsion polymerization. The microencapsulated phase change material (MEPCM) was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Thermal properties and thermal stability of MEPCM were measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). DSC analysis indicated that the docosane in the microcapsules melts at 41.0 °C and crystallizes at 40.6 °C. It has latent heats of 54.6 and -48.7 J/g for melting and crystallization, respectively. TGA showed that the MEPCM degraded in three distinguishable steps and had good chemical stability. Accelerated thermal cycling tests also indicated that the MEPCM had good thermal reliability. Based on all these results, it can be concluded that the microencapsulated docosane as MEPCMs have good potential for thermal energy storage purposes such as solar space heating applications.