Preparation of composite supported phase change materials from inorganic-based microcapsules of cetyl alcohol and investigation of their phase change material (PCM) behaviors

In this study, cetyl alcohol (CA) (CH3(CH2)15OH), which is a fatty alcohol, was microencapsulated by the coacervation method with the titanium-n-butoxide (TNBO). Firstly, at the beginning of the experimental process by thermal and structural analyses, the CA was determined as having a phase change material (PCM) property, then it was microencapsulated with TNBO. In the second step of the study, barite, boron nitride, marble powder, and fly ash were separately added to prepare a series of microencapsulated with TNBO. Lastly, structural and thermal properties of both microencapsulated PCM and composite supported microencapsulated PCMs (CSM-PCMs) have been analyzed by FTIR, DSC, TGA, and SEM devices. Surprisingly, the SEM image of CA turned from torn fiber structure into a particulate structure in the form of groundnut in the SEM images of the microencapsulated CA-Ti taken at different magnifications. After the thermal cycling test, the same analyses have been made before and after thermal cycling to compare the structural and thermal properties. It has been investigated whether to use as insulation material. It is concluded that the most suitable samples, compared with structural and thermal properties, are barite (B) and boron nitride (BN) with microencapsulated samples. The obtained results are shown that CATi-B and CATi-BN are CSM-PCMs and could be suggested in terms of thermal energy storage in buildings as promising PCMs.