Novel method for microencapsulation of eutectic hydrated salt

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCMs), as latent thermal energy storage, have received plenty of attention in recent decades due to their excellent performance in energy conservation. Inorganic hydrated salts have many advantages over organic phase change materials, such as higher thermal storage density, low cost, nontoxicity and nonflammability. This work presents a simple and environmentally friendly method for the preparation of microcapsules with inorganic hydrated salts as core materials. Microcapsule using EHS composed of SSD and DHPD as core material and EC/ABS as shell material has been prepared and investigated by various characterization techniques. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results indicate that the microcapsules are basically spherical with a core-shell structure. In addition, Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis results suggest that the microcapsules are only the physical coating of composite shell material to core material. Furthermore, the phase transition enthalpy is 168.3 J/g according to the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) analysis. Besides, the method of microencapsulation may be extended to other liquid hydrates salts at room temperature.