Preparation and Property of Paraffin/CaCO3 Composite as Form-Stable Phase Change Material for Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract

In this work, a paraffin/CaCO₃ composite phase change material with a paraffin capacity of 50 wt % was prepared using a microemulsion method. The paraffin was used as the phase change material for thermal energy storage and CaCO₃ served as the supporting material for improving the thermal stability of the composite. The as-obtained composite was characterized by X-ray diffractometer, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscopy and differential scanning calorimeter. The composite can maintain its original shape perfectly without any paraffin leakage after subjected to 30 melt-freeze cycles, in which the paraffin was well dispersed in the porous network of CaCO₃, observed by SEM.