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Thermal energy harvesting of highly conductive graphene-enhanced paraffin phase change material

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Abstract

Solar energy is the most plentiful renewable energy source that has the capability to keep up with the growing demand. When the sun’s energy is not available, thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change material (PCM) is a promising technique for storage and utilization. However, PCM’s low thermal conductivity may limit its use. The use of nanomaterials to enhance the thermal conductivity is one of the prominent solutions to overcome this issue. This research work reports that graphene nanoparticles (0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7% and 1% mass) enhanced paraffin wax (PW) to improve the thermophysical properties and transmittance capability. Thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultra-violet visible spectroscope (UV–VIS) were used for the characterization of the base PCM and nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCM) composites. A significant improvement of 110% in thermal conductivity was obtained at 0.7% mass ratio compared to base PW without compromising the prepared composites’ latent heat storage (LHS) capacity. TGA and FTIR outcomes demonstrated excellent thermal and chemical stability, respectively. To check the thermal reliability of composite, the PW and nanocomposite were subjected to repeated thermal cycling. The outcome evidence that the NePCM composite had consistent thermal energy storage properties even after repeated thermal cycles. The composite’s light transmission was drastically lowered by 56.34% (PW/Gr-0.5) compared to base PW, resulting in PW/Gr composite has better thermal reliability in relation to thermal conductivity and LHS than base PCM, which can be used specifically in photovoltaic thermal systems and TES.

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Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

Abbreviations

C.B.:

Carbon black

DSC:

Differential scanning calorimeter

EDX:

Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy

E.T.:

Electron transport

FESEM:

Field emission scanning electron microscopy

FT-IR:

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

G:

Graphene

LHS:

Latent heat storage

MWCNT:

Multiwall carbon nanotubes

NePCM:

Nano-enhanced phase change materials

PCM:

Phase change materials

PV:

Photovoltaics

PVT:

Photovoltaic thermal

PW:

Paraffin wax

PW/Gr:

Paraffin wax–graphene composite

PT:

Phonon transport

SDBS:

Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfate

SWCNT:

Single-wall carbon nanotube

TGA:

Thermal gravimetric analyzer

TiO2 :

Titanium Oxide

T.P.:

Thermophysical properties

UV–VIS:

Ultra-violet visible spectroscopy

TES:

Thermal energy storage

α :

Absorbance

η :

Efficiency

µ :

Micron

ɸ :

Concentration ratio

⍴ :

Density Kg m-3

PWG0.1:

Paraffin wax with 0.1% graphene

PWG0.3:

Paraffin wax with 0.3% graphene

PWG0.5:

Paraffin wax with 0.5% graphene

PWG0.7:

Paraffin wax with 0.7% graphene

PWG1:

Paraffin wax with 1% graphene

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) for the financial support under grant RDU233002 RDU192208 and RDU210351. The authors are also thankful to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Najran University for funding this work under the Research Groups Funding program grant code (NU/RG/SERC/11/7) and Sunway University through Sunway University International Research Network Grant Scheme 2.0 (IRNGS2.0) (STRIRNGS- SET-RCNMET-01-2021).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Pekan, Pahang, 26600, Malaysia

    Imtiaz Ali Laghari, M. Samykano & K. Kadirgama

  2. Research Centre for Nano-Materials and Energy Technology (RCNMET), School of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University, No. 5, Jalan Universiti, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

    A. K. Pandey

  3. Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CFTR), Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, India

    A. K. Pandey

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Najran University, Najran, 11001, Saudi Arabia

    Belqasem Aljafari

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Technology, GLA University, Mathura, 281406, India

    Kamal Sharma

  6. School of Energy Management, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, Jammu & Kashmir, 182320, India

    V. V. Tyagi

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  1. Imtiaz Ali Laghari
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Contributions

IAL involved in data curation, investigation, formal analysis, and writing—original draft. AKP involved in conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, validation, supervision, and project administration. MS involved in validation, review and editing, methodology, supervision, and project administration. BA involved in review and editing and methodology. KK involved in writing—review and editing and supervision. KS involved in validation and writing—review and editing. VVT involved in methodology and validation.

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Correspondence to A. K. Pandey or M. Samykano.

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Laghari, I.A., Pandey, A.K., Samykano, M. et al. Thermal energy harvesting of highly conductive graphene-enhanced paraffin phase change material. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 9391–9402 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12336-5

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