Preparation of wood furniture cooling coatings based on phase change microcapsules and its performance study

Abstract

Due to the small thermal conductivity of wooden furniture, there is a better cooling effect in the initial contact with the human body during the summer. However, after long-term contact, heat cannot be exported, resulting in heat accumulation, which affects the thermal comfort. Phase change microcapsules (PCM) can be added to water-based coatings for wood furniture to achieve a lower contact temperature by using the heat absorption properties of its phase change process. Thus, it improves the thermal comfort of the human body for long-term use. In this study, the PCM were added to a water-based paint for wooden furniture. By testing the microscopic properties and thermal properties, it was found that the PCM powder could undergo phase change and absorb heat after dispersing in water-based paint. Secondly, fiberboard coated with different solid content of microencapsulated coatings was tested by homemade equipment at 27 °C room temperature. The results showed that the addition of PCM can significantly change the contact temperature. And as the amount of microcapsules added increased, the cooling effect was more obvious. At the same time, the addition of microcapsules can cause matting of the paint film and have an effect on the hardness of the paint film. Therefore, the cooling effect can be achieved by stacking the paint film or controlling the amount of microcapsules.