Thermal performance enhancement of lauric acid using nanomaterials as composite phase change material

In the present work, lauric acid was taken as a phase change material (PCM), and different nanoparticles (NPs) such as SiO₂, TiO₂, CuO, and ZnO were taken as the supporting materials. CuO NPs were prepared through the co-precipitation technique; SiO₂, TiO₂, and ZnO NPs were synthesized via the sol-gel technique. These NPs with different weight fractions were dispersed into molten lauric acid, individually. The variations in thermal properties (phase change temperature and latent heat for solid and liquid) of the prepared composite PCMs due to the dispersion of NPs were observed by DSC analyses. An increase in thermal conductivity of the composite PCMs was observed with the increasing weight fraction of NPs. In order to ascertain the long-term utility, a thermal reliability test was conducted on the composite PCMs with repeated heating and cooling cycles. Also, the specific heats of the pure PCM and the composite PCMs were determined as a function of temperature. Further, the experimental investigation was performed on the pure PCM and the prepared composite PCMs to assess their phase change behavior, and the test results clearly proved that the time required for the complete melting and freezing process of the composite PCMs was less when compared to pure PCM. By considering the above facts, the newly prepared composite PCMs can be recommended as a potential candidate for low-temperature solar heating applications.