Erythritol-Vermiculite form-stable phase change materials for thermal energy storage

Abstract

This work is concerned about form-stable phase change materials (FPCM) for thermal energy storage consisting of Erythritol as the phase change material (PCM) and Vermiculite as a supporting material (SM). The materials were fabricated using a method derived from the pharmaceutical and ceramics industry, involving milling, mixing/granulation, shaping, drying and sintering. It is found that the PCM can distribute evenly in SM and composites present an excellent chemical compatibility. The materials containing 70% PCM give an optimal formulation in terms of energy density, extent of PCM leakage during sintering and thermophysical properties. FT-IR analyses suggested an excellent chemical compatibility between vermiculite and the Vermiculite. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses demonstrated an even distribution of the PCM within the diatomite structure. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements showed that melting temperature of the material was approximately 118.6 °C with a latent heat of 216.7kJ/kg, and the effective thermal storage density was 605.56 kJ/kg (0~200 °C). The latent heat of the aforementioned composite material decreased only 3.41% and no significant decline was observed after 300 times of heating-cooling cycles.