Solar to thermal energy storage performance of composite phase change material supported by copper foam loaded with graphite and boron nitride

Phase Change Materials (PCM) have emerged as one of the potential candidates for solar Thermal Energy Storage (TES) because of their high energy density, low volume change, and easy availability in varying temperature ranges. However, PCM suffers from a few critical drawbacks such as leakage during phase transformation, low thermal conductivity, and poor photothermal energy conversion performance. In this study, shape-stable composite PCM loaded with varying percentages of Graphite (GR) and Boron Nitride (BN) were prepared. Copper foam of 96 PPI was used as 3-dimensional skeleton support to provide shape stability to the eutectic mixture of Lauric Acid (LA)-Myristic Acid (MA). Shape stable composite PCM CF/LA-MA/GR with 0 %, 5 %, 15 %, 25 %, and 35 % of GR and CF/LA-MA/BN with 0 %, 5 %, 15 %, 25 %, and 35 % of BN were prepared and characterized for thermal, physical, and photothermal energy conversion performance. A maximum loading percentage of 67 % of LA-MA in CF without leakage was obtained. The PCM composites show excellent thermal stability at elevated temperatures and suitable TES parameters for solar thermal storage applications. Among all the prepared samples, CF/LA-MA/GR35% shows a maximum rise of 76.1 % in heating rate and 81.2 % in photothermal energy conversion efficiency in comparison with CF/LA-MA/GR0%. In addition, CF/LA-MA/GR35% shows a maximum of 1.08 W/m-K of thermal conductivity at a melting enthalpy of 95.36 J/g. The shape-stable composite PCM shows a stable physical structure along with good surface morphology.