More than Color: Pigments with Thermal Storage Capacity; Processing and Degradation Behavior

A standard ultramarine pigment was used to produce phase change material composites, by adsorbing n-hexadecane paraffin around the pigment surface with the aim of obtaining a pigment providing thermal storage capacity apart from color. Vacuum impregnation method was employed optimizing the process variables to maximize the latent heat of the hexadecane/pigment composite. In addition to the process optimization, the stability of the composite having the maximum latent heat was investigated. The hexadecane/pigment composite providing the highest latent heat has a Latent heat of fusion of 44 J/g (around a 20%wt. hexadecane adsorbed in the pigment). Durability of the material was tested by thermo-diffractometric measurements. The results indicate slow reduction of the area intensity up to 6.5% after the 100 cycles.