MWCNTs/hydroxypropyl cellulose/polyethylene glycol-based shape-stabilized phase change materials

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used as phase change materials (PCMs). However, the leakage and low thermal conductivity issues restrict its practical application. Herein, a series of novel MWCNTs/HPC/PEG PCMs (named as PCMMHP) have been synthesized by hydroxypropyl cellulose grafting onto PEG for the first time and doping multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The results indicate that the PCMMHP exhibit excellent shape stability and without leakage keeping warm for an hour at 353.2 K. The melting and freezing enthalpy of the PCMM1HP7 is 134.7 J g−1 and 131.2 J g−1, respectively; and corresponding melting point and crystallization temperature are about 324.9 K and 308.8 K, respectively. The PCMMHP show a good reversible thermal stability after 100 heating/cooling cycles. In addition, adding 4 mass% MWCNTs, the PCMM4HP7 possess a higher thermal conductivity of 0.6019 W m−1 K−1, which is 2.1 times that of the PCMHP without MWCNTs (0.2895 W m−1 K−1) and 1.9 times that of pure PEG (0.3228 W m−1 K−1). In a word, the fabricated PCMMHP is a kind of shape-stabilized PCM and has good latent ability. It will have a broad potential application in thermal energy storage applications.