Fabrication and investigation on influence of metal oxide nanoparticles on thermal, flammability and UV characteristics of polyethylene glycol based phase change materials

摘要

The current study is aimed at the fabrication and property evaluation of form-stable phase change material (PCMs) nanocomposites films made by solvent casting method using Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) as working PCM and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) as a supporting matrix, reinforced with Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles (NTO). The influence of the incorporated metal oxide nanoparticles in varying concentrations (0.25-1 ) on the chemical, thermal, microstructural, UV resistance, and flammability characteristics for the developed nanocomposites has been thoroughly investigated. The resultant form-stable PCMs are characterized by FTIR and FE-SEM. Phase change behaviours and thermal stability of the prepared PCMs are determined by DSC and TGA analysis. T -History and thermal cycling tests have been carried out to access the charging-discharging time as well as the thermal reliability of the form-stable PCMs. The addition of the varying loadings of NTO particles to the opti-mized PEG/PVA composition significantly improves the phase change parameters, such as latent heat storage capacities from 65.59 J/g to 73.02 J/g and degree of supercooling from 18.93 to 17.03 respectively; along with the thermal stability of the nanocomposites with increasing order of nanoparticles concentrations. The presence of NTO particles in nanocomposites has proved to be effective in successfully reducing the UV transmittance across the films. The metal oxide filler also enhances the flame-retardant behaviour of the form-stable PCMs.