A novel composite Phase change material of Stearic Acid/Carbonized sunflower straw for thermal energy storage.

In this research, a novel form-stable composite Phase change material (PCM) of Stearic Acid (SA)/Carbonized sunflower straw (CSS) was prepared by vacuum impregnation method. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to measure the chemical compatibility of SA/CSS. The thermal properties and thermal stability were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) techniques. The results show that the SA/CSS melted at 66.4 °C with the latent heat of 186.1 J/g and freezed at 65.9 °C with the latent heat of 186.7 J/g and the composite PCM have a good thermal reliability above its working temperature. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of SA/CSS was 0.33 W/m/K which was 106.3% higher than that of SA. All results indicated that SA/CSS have suitable thermal properties used as thermal energy storage applications such as solar heat energy storage system and energy conservation buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]