Form-Stable Phase Change Materials Based on Eutectic Mixture of Tetradecanol and Fatty Acids for Building Energy Storage: Preparation and Performance Analysis

This paper is focused on preparation and performance analysis of a series of form-stable phase change materials (FSPCMs), based on eutectic mixtures as phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer as supporting materials. The PCMs were eutectic mixtures of tetradecanol (TD)–capric acid (CA), TD–lauric acid (LA), and TD–myristic acid (MA), which were rarely explored before. Thermal properties of eutectic mixtures and FSPCMs were measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The onset melting/solidification temperatures of form-stable PCMs were 19.13 °C/13.32 °C (FS TD–CA PCM), 24.53 °C/24.92 °C (FS TD–LA PCM), and 33.15 °C/30.72 °C (FS TD–MA PCM), respectively, and latent heats were almost greater than 90 J/g. The surface morphologies and chemical stability of form-stable PCM were surveyed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, respectively. The thermal cycling test revealed that the thermal reliability of these three form-stable PCMs was good. Thermal storage/release experiment indicated melting/solidification time was shortened by introducing 10 wt % aluminum powder (AP). It is concluded that these FSPCMs can act as potential building thermal storage materials in terms of their satisfactory thermal properties.