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The authors have presented a literature review on computational and experimental studies on the thermal conductivity of nanostructure enhanced phase change materials (nePCMs). It was found that a wide range of nanostructures have been investigated, from carbon nanostructures and carbon nanotubes to metal and metal oxide nanoparticles. The carbon nanostructures and nanotubes were found to generally enhance the thermal conductivity of the PCMs by a greater amount than metal or ...
The effects of incorporating phase change materials (PCMs) into concrete on the potential service lives of bridges were investigated. It was determined that PCMs could potentially be used in the future to reduce the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on bridges, but more work needed to be done to improve the strength of concretes containing PCMs before this could be applied. It was determined that increasing the latent heat of fusion ...
A new composite phase change material for cold thermal energy storage applications is described in this paper. The authors combined dodecane into hydrophobic fumed silica to create a form stable PCM. Physical characteristics were studied using scanning through electron micrographs and Fourier transformation infrared. A thermal analyzer was used to measure the thermal conductivity of the composite, which was a desired low value needed for this type of application. An ...
This paper focuses on the creation of a new composite phase change material, paraffin-silica (SiO2)/graphene oxide (GO) through a two step process for potential use as a heat transfer fluid in direct absorption solar collectors. The resulting composite is composed of spherical capsules, and has the GO embedded within the SiO2 shell. Thermal conductivity testing with the TPS instrument revealed that the composites had excellent thermal characteristics and stability. ...
