Porous ceramic stabilized phase change materials for thermal energy storage

Abstract

This paper aimed to develop a novel form-stable composite phase change material (PCM) by infiltrating molten Na₂SO₄ into a mullite-corundum porous ceramic preform (M-PCP). Sufficient coal-series kaolinite (Kc), aluminum hydroxide, aluminum fluoride and graphite were mixed and subsequently heated in air at 1450 °C to produce M-PCP. The microstructure, thermal properties and thermal reliability of the composite PCMs were characterized by thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the M-PCP/Na₂SO₄ was 54.33 J g⁻¹ at its melting temperature of 882.17 °C. Impregnation experiments and numerical simulation demonstrated high-temperature chemical compatibility and wettability between molten Na₂SO₄ and M-PCP. The M-PCP/Na₂SO₄ composite showed good thermal stability after 30 thermal shock cycles, and could potentially be used in the thermal energy storage field.