Development of Thermal Storage Building Exterior Using Phase Change Materials

The temperatures in cities increase annually. This may be because of the development of cities with an increase in the number of buildings. A thermal storage building exterior that uses phase change materials (PCMs) to mitigate the heat island phenomenon was developed. As the temperatures of exterior walls increase because of solar radiation, the temperatures of cities tend to increase. Paraffin as PCM with melting points of 36 ℃ and 44℃ were used in this study. Three types of PCM specimens (paraffin-based microcapsules and board and gel types) were prepared, and their thermal and strength properties were evaluated. Regarding the thermal properties, the PCM successfully reduced the heat increase in the specimen. The gel-type specimen exhibited a better heat storage effect, and the temperature-controlling performance was accompanied by a substantial increase in PCM content. For the strength properties, the compressive and bending strengths decreased with increasing PCM content. A mortar specimen with 20% microcapsule content was found to be the most suitable mixture in terms of heat reduction and strength.