Shape-stabilized paraffin/polymer with high latent heat for integration in building walls: fabrication and thermal characterization
摘要
Materials with high inertial capacity are the key to successful energy efficiency in buildings. Phase change materials (PCMs) perform well in this aspect with a major advantage, the latent heat storage capacity. The integration of PCMs into the building envelope has been extensively studied through generally satisfactory approaches. Aside from the risk of leakage during melting, direct integration has shown promising suitability for numerous applications. Among several stabilization approaches, PCMs based on a polymer matrix are primarily studied, but often in applications for thermal energy storage (TES) systems. In buildings, the few studies on shape-stabilized phase change materials (SSPCMs) show a modification of thermal characteristics, such as a significant drop in latent enthalpy. The emergence of PCMs with high latent capacity has encouraged the idea of utilizing this potential in polymer-based stabilized mixtures. Thus, this work proposes to study this type of mixture using a high latent capacity paraffin associated with styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) polymer. Two mixtures are made with two different paraffins, with normal and high latent enthalpy (RT26/180 J g−1 and RT28HC/250 J g−1). A detailed description of the manufacturing and formulation steps of the shape-stabilized PCMs and the thermal characterization techniques is carried out. An extended comparison was conducted concerning polymer content, melting temperature and influence on main thermal characteristics. Through the comparative study, the results show that high latent capacity paraffin offers very satisfactory functional mechanical stabilization while maintaining a high latent enthalpy favourable for thermal regulation.