Dissipative particle dynamics and experimental study of alkane-based nanoencapsulated phase change material for thermal energy storage

Abstract

The nanoencapsulated phase change materials (PCM) for thermal energy storage have received much attention recently. In order to understand the morphologies and structure evolution of nanoencapsulated PCM, dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation coupled with an experimental method was performed in this paper. The coarse-grained models of the alkane-based nanoencapsulated PCM system were constructed and the PCM nanocapsules were prepared by using n-octadecane as a core material, and methyl methacrylate (MMA) and methyl acrylate (MA) as shell materials. The results showed that the nanoencapsulated PCM with a shell–core structure were successfully fabricated by DPD simulation. The average diameter of the prepared PCM capsules by using the experimental method is 48.80 nm. The latent heat and melting temperature of the prepared nanoencapsulated PCM is 86.13 kJ·kg⁻¹ and 20.60 °C. The alkane content in the prepared nanoencapsulated PCM is 41.59%. The DPD simulation method was confirmed to benefit the development of nanotechnology in thermal energy storage.