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Design of synthesis route for inorganic shape-stabilized phase change materials. Direct sol–gel process versus vacuum impregnation method

  • Original Paper: Sol–gel and hybrid materials for energy, environment, and building applications
  • Published:
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recently, sol–gel techniques for synthesize inorganic shape-stabilized phase change materials (SS-PCMs) were proposed to successfully improve thermal properties and to accomplish real applications for latent thermal energy storage (TES). In this work, the use of sol–gel process was deeply investigated to develop inorganic SS-PCM, using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as monomer and Na2SO4.10H2O as phase change material (PCM). In addition, the influence of pH (acid and basic hydrolysis) and PCM content in the physic and thermal properties of achieved materials were analyzed. Stabilized materials were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy, scanning differential calorimetry, and thermogravimetry. The characterization results established that direct sol–gel method via acid hydrolysis showed potential to develop inorganic SS-PCMs. However, results indicate that the Na2SO4.10H2O loses water molecules during synthesis, resulting in the anhydrous compound Na2SO4-SiO2; therefore, materials were proposed for high temperature TES applications. Melting point of 880–886 °C and enthalpy of fusion of 23–100 kJ kg−1 were obtained for materials with 20–60 wt.% of PCM content. The new obtained SS-PCMs have enhanced thermal properties, compared with anhydrous Na2SO4: latent storage range RL among 0.1–3.0 °C and thermal cycle stability, for high TES. In addition, direct sol–gel technique was compared with vacuum impregnation method, employing SiO2 as support material. Impregnation procedures were not successfully achieved in this work to stabilize the PCM, which prove the superior significance of direct sol–gel method.

Highlights

  • New inorganic SS-PCM based on Na2SO4 and SiO2 with sol–gel method.

  • Influence of pH and amount of PCM for direct sol–gel synthesis.

  • Direct sol gel method was compared with vacuum impregnation.

  • SiO2 materials (–SiOH and –SiOR) as support materials for vacuum impregnation.

  • Direct sol gel method, via acid hydrolysis show best results.

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Abbreviations

TES:

Thermal energy storage

TEOS:

Tetraethyl orthosilicate

PCM:

Phase change material

SS-PCMs:

Shape-stabilized phase change materials

CSE:

Core-shell encapsulation

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

EDS:

Energy dispersion spectroscopy

XRD:

X-Ray diffraction

FT-IR:

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

DSC:

Differential scanning calorimetry

TG:

Thermogravimetry

SG:

Sol–gel method

RL :

Latent storage range

T(onset, melting):

Onset melting temperature

T(endset, solidification):

Endset solidification temperature

c-PCMcalc:

Calculated PCM content (wt.%)

c-PCMexp:

Experimental PCM content (wt.%)

Tm:

Melting point (°C)

Ts:

Solidification point (°C)

ΔHm :

Enthalpy of fusion (kJ kg−1)

ΔHs :

Enthalpy of solidification (kJ kg−1)

% ΔH:

Reduction of the enthalpy of fusion in the SS-PCMs

∆Hm_PCM:

Enthalpy of fusion of the PCM

∆Hm_SS-PCM:

Enthalpy of fusion of the SS-PCM

A.N.:

Atomic number

Normal/Atomic C.:

Normal/atomic concentration (wt./at.%)

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Acknowledgements

The work is partially funded by the Chilean government CONICYT/FONDAP No 15110019, CONICYT/FONDECYT REGULAR N°1170675, and CONICYT/PCI/REDES N°170131. YM would like to thanks CONICYT/BECA DE DOCTORADO NACIONAL 2015 N°21150240 for his doctorate scholarship, CORFO 16ENI2-71940 INGENIERIA2030 projects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Mineral Processing and Center for Advanced Study of Lithium and Industrial Minerals (CELiMIN), Universidad de Antofagasta, Campus Coloso, Av. Universidad de Antofagasta, 02800, Antofagasta, Chile

    Yanio E. Milian & Svetlana Ushak

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  1. Yanio E. Milian
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  2. Svetlana Ushak
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Correspondence to Svetlana Ushak.

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Milian, Y.E., Ushak, S. Design of synthesis route for inorganic shape-stabilized phase change materials. Direct sol–gel process versus vacuum impregnation method. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 94, 67–79 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05119-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05119-8

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