Dimethyl Adipate-Based Microencapsulated Phase Change Material with Silica Shell for Cool Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCM) have the ability to store and release thermal energy. Encapsulation of these energy storage materials overcomes the difficulties that can enable them for a broad range of applications. In the present study, microencapsulation of dimethyl adipate into silica shell was carried through interfacial hydrolysis and polycondensation method. The prepared microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCM) were characterised using a field emission scanning electron microscope, have shown good sphericity with an average particle size of 596 nm. The chemical structure of MPCM obtained using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has exhibited good chemical stability between shell and core materials. Latent heat of enthalpy measured using differential scanning calorimetry was around 24 kJ/kg with onset melting and end set melting as 7.33 °C and 11.97 °C, respectively. Furthermore, thermo-gravimetric analysis studies have shown that MPCM exhibited end set temperatures as 180 °C. Due to the inorganic shell coating over the PCM droplets, MPCM has shown an increase in thermal stability. These properties make MPCM as a viable candidate for cool thermal energy storage applications.