Preparation and Investigation on Thermal Characteristics of Nanoenhanced Phase Change Material

Abstract

A new form of composite PCMs is developed by adding 0.5 wt% of SiO2, TiO2, ZnO and CuO nanomaterials to lauric acid. Phase change temperatures of lauric acid range from 43.92°C to 44.65°C and 40.84°C to 41.36°C, respectively. In addition, the phase change latent heats are 183.23 kJ/kg and 183.68 kJ/kg at room temperature, respectively. Thermal properties of PCM with nanomaterials were discussed in terms of weight fractions. The improvement in thermal conductivity of the PCM owing to the dispersion of nanomaterials was verified by laser flash analyser (LFA). Hence, the newly developed composite PCMs holds great potential as a candidate for harnessing solar energy in low-temperature heating systems. Keywords: Phase Change Material (PCM), Melting, freezing, Nanomaterials and Lauric acid.