Improvement in thermodynamic characteristics of sodium acetate trihydrate composite phase change material with expanded graphite

In this study, three different volume expansion ratios of expanded graphite (EG) are prepared and investigated to enhance the heat transfer efficiency of the sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT) composites. A series of SAT composite phase change materials (CPCMs) with EG were prepared. The influence of volume expansion ratio and mass fraction of EG on thermodynamic characteristics of SAT CPCMs was examined, including thermal conductivity, phase change temperature, enthalpy, latent heat storage and release time, and the degree of supercooling. Results showed that SAT CPCMs can be absorbed adequately by EG, and EG could enhance the heat transfer efficiency effectively. But it also brought some problems with the addition of all the three volume expansion ratios of EG, such as the poor enthalpy and serious supercooling. Particularly, the situation gets worse with the increase in mass and expansion ratio of EG. Therefore, it is better to choose the EG with proper expansion ratio or reduce the proportion of the EG which possesses higher expansion ratio. Besides, thermal cycling test and thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the SAT CPCMs with 3 mass% EG showed a good thermal stability.