Preparation and thermal properties of lauric acid/myristyl alcohol as a novel binary eutectic phase change material for indoor thermal comfort

Abstract

This work is about the preparation and studies on lauric acid- myristyl alcohol solid-to-liquid binary eutectic phase change material used for indoor thermal comfort. The binary eutectic mixture consisting of lauric acid (40%) and myristyl alcohol (60%) is prepared, and its thermal properties are investigated. From the differential scanning calorimetric results, it is evidenced that the developed phase change material (PCM) possesses a melting temperature and a latent heat of 21.3°C and 151.5 kJ kg−1, respectively. The freezing temperature and latent heat are 19.9°C and 151.6 kJ kg−1, respectively. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy results confirm that the eutectic PCM is chemically stable. The accelerated thermal cycling test proves that the developed eutectic PCM is thermally stable upto 1000 thermal cycles. The thermogravimetric results revealed that the degradation of developed eutectic PCM occurs at a temperature of 165°C, which is higher than the application temperature. Also, the results of corrosion test with the construction materials such as Cu, Al, and stainless steel are presented with necessary recommendations for using it in real-time applications. The developed novel eutectic PCM has significant potential for using it in an indoor thermal comfort application.