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Nano Research & Applications
ISSN 2471-9838 Advanced Nano 2017
Page 71
September 11-12, 2017 Amsterdam, Netherlands
20th International Conference on
Advanced Nanotechnology
Multiphase change materials for nanostructured
energy storage technologies - NEST
Jo Darkwa
University of Nottingham, UK
The building sector is currently responsible for
approximately 40% of final global energy consumption
and CO2 emissions. One promising technology that
has emerged as a significant method by which energy
consumption could be reduced is through the use of
phase change materials (PCMs). However, commercially
available PCMs are only able to function at fixed phase
transition temperatures and therefore unable to be tuned
to different melting temperatures, which limit their flexibility
for multiple applications. This research was therefore
intended to develop novel microencapsulated multiphase
change materials (MCMs). The initial approach covered
characterization of appropriate core PCMs and shell
materials for the fabrication of the MCMs. The fabrication
process was based on in-situ polymerization method as
well as other processes covering synthesis of pre-polymer
solution, preparation of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion
and formation of shells. Melamine-formaldehyde (MF)
solution was used as shell monomers, nano- silicon
dioxide hydrosol as emulsifier for reducing interfacial
tension in the O/W emulsion and ammonium chloride
as a nucleation agent for reducing the pH level and thus
enabling the PCMs capsules to be crossed-linked with the
MF polymer. Finally, the van der Waal interaction process
was applied to produce the MCMs. Characterization of
the developed samples were carried out through particle
size analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC),
thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM). It is believed that the technology could
significantly reduce the material content, cost, size and
ultimately payback period of integrated nanostructured
energy storage components for other sectors such as
pharmaceutical and the electronic industries.
Nano Research & Applications