Ultralight three-dimensional, carbon-based nanocomposites for thermal energy storage

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2019.06.014

Abstract

Abstract:

Polymer based nanocomposites consisting of elastic three-dimensional (3D) carbon foam (CF), paraffin wax and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) have been created and evaluated for thermal energy storage. The ultralight, highly porous (～98.6% porosity), and flexible CFs with densities of 2.84-5.26 mg/cm³ have been used as the backbone skeleton to accommodate phase change wax and nanoscale thermal conductive enhancer, GNP. Low level of defects and the ordered sp² configuration allow the resulting CFs to exhibit excellent cyclic compressive behavior at strains up to 95%, while retaining part of their elastic properties even after 100 cycles of testing. By dispersing the highly conductive GNP nanofillers in paraffin wax and infiltrating them into the flexible CFs, the resultant nanocomposites were observed to possess enhanced overall thermal conductivity up to 0.76 W/(m K), representing an impressive improvement of 226%, which is highly desirable for thermal engineering.

Key words: Nanocomposites, Foam, Thermal properties, Compressive properties

Oluwafunmilola Ola, Yu Chen, Qijian Niu, Yongde Xia, Tapas Mallick, Yanqiu Zhu. Ultralight three-dimensional, carbon-based nanocomposites for thermal energy storage[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 36: 70-78.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1. Morphological and structural characteristics of the MFs and CFs: (a) SEM micrograph of the MF (inset shows the alveoli-shaped joint); (b) SEM micrograph of sample CF-800 (inset showing the presence of nanofibers); (c) SEM micrograph of sample CF-900 (inset showing nanofibers of varying lengths and diameters); (d) Micro-CT image of sample CF-1200; (e) Raman spectrum of the pristine MF; (f) Raman spectra of CFs synthesized at different temperatures.

Fig. 2. TEM images and corresponding SAED patterns of (a-c) CF-800 and (d-f) CF-1200. The red circles mark some weak spots indicating crystalline domains.

Fig. 3. (a) FTIR spectra of MF and CFs converted at various temperatures, (b) TGA curve of MF in Ar and cyclic compressive behavior of (c) MF and (d) CF-1200 with 95% of strain, tested at a loading rate of 8 mm/min.

Fig. 4. (a) FTIR spectra, (b) XRD patterns, and (c) DSC heating and cooling curves of paraffin wax and its nanocomposites.

Table 1 DSC heating and cooling characteristics of paraffin wax and nanocomposites.

Sample	T_CO (^oC)	T_CE (^oC)	T_CP (^oC)	ΔH_CC (J/g)	T_MO (^oC)	T_ME (^oC)	T_MP (^oC)	ΔH_MC (J/g)
Wax	55.29	47.40	53.49	126.24	55.99	60.07	58.81	127.56
CF_12_W	55.13	45.32	51.70	122.04	52.33	61.62	57.52	125.28
CF_12_1G	56.26	47.43	53.15	126.00	53.70	60.19	58.11	131.52
CF_12_2G	56.54	48.00	53.45	126.72	55.20	59.97	58.00	126.12
CF_12_5G	55.94	47.77	53.05	117.48	54.89	59.42	55.98	118.20

Fig. 5. Shape stability studies of the PCM mix and different carbon foam nanocomposites.

Fig. 6. Thermal properties of paraffin wax and nanocomposites: (a) thermal conductivities of pure wax and nanocomposites prepared with paraffin wax; (b) thermal conductivities of nanocomposites prepared with wax and 2 wt% GNP; (c) thermal conductivities of CF-1200 nanocomposites prepared with different GNP contents; (d) thermogravimetric analysis curves.

Fig. 7. (a) DSC curves and (b) FTIR spectra of sample CF-1200-5 G after 100 thermal cycles.

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