Exploring the effects of silver nanoparticle addition on the properties of paraffin wax phase change material

Abstract

Ability of phase change materials (PCMs) to store and release significant amount of energy during phase transition has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. However, low thermal characteristics of pure PCMs has been a major limitation in their application for thermal energy storage (TES) systems. In this study, thermal properties of paraffin wax A46 (PW-A46) based composites with the addition of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been investigated. PW-A46 was chosen as the PCM due to its high latent heat of fusion and low cost, while Ag NPs are known for their high thermal conductivity and have been utilized in various composites to improve thermal properties. Ag NPs were added to the paraffin wax at three different weight percentages of 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 weight percent (wt.%), and composites were prepared using an ultrasonic probe sonicator. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has been done to study chemical bonding and interactions between paraffin and Ag NPs. No new peaks were observed in the FTIR spectra, indicating that addition of Ag NPs did not cause any significant changes in chemical structure of PW-A46. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed that composites were stable up to 230°C, indicating their potential for high-temperature thermal energy storage (TES) applications. UV-Vis results demonstrated a 77% increase in the absorbance of the 0.7 wt.% of AgNPs with A46-PW (PW/0.7Ag) composite. Overall, the results suggested that addition of Ag NPs to paraffin wax can improve the optical and thermal characteristics of pure PCM for potential applications.