Thermal properties and shape-stabilization of poly(propylene-graft-maleic anhydride)-g-alkyl alcohol comb-like polymeric phase change thermal energy storage materials

In this study, a series of polypropylene-g-maleic anhydride-g-CnH2n+1OH (PMCn, n = 18, 22, 26) comb-like polymeric phase change materials (CPCMs) are fabricated through the solvent-free esterification reaction between polypropylene-g-maleic anhydride(PP-g-MAH)and n-alkyl alcohol with side-chain lengths varying from n = 18, 22 to 26. The pendant side alkyl groups along PP-g-MAH exhibit obvious side-chain crystallization behavior, and phase transition temperature and heat enthalpy of PMCnincrease from 60.0 to 82.2 °C and from 53.6 to 118.4 J/g with increasing the side-chain length, respectively. PMCnseries CPCMs demonstrate excellent shape stabilization and thermal performance owing to the protection and anchoring role of the PP backbone, and the form-stabilized temperature at 135 °C and 300-time thermal cycles further verify their excellent structural stability and reliability. PMC18 shows a longer thermal buffering time of 362 s and the maximum ΔT at 11.3 °C, and the coated fabric by PMC18 gives a 110 s thermal buffering time during the heat storage process, proving its outstanding thermoregulated ability. The presented PMCnseries CPCMs with excellent structural-stabilized performance demonstrate a prospective thermal management application.