An intrinsic antistatic polyethylene glycol-based solid-solid phase change material for thermal energy storage and thermal management

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is an important and popular phase change material (PCM), but is not a good antistatic material, which would cause the accumulation of static electricity and electrostatic discharge when used for the thermal energy storage and thermal management of electrical devices. Herein, we prepared a PEG-based solid-solid PCM (SSPCM) with good antistatic property by introducing an ionic liquid onto the macromolecular chains. This SSPCM is in solid state even at 90 degrees C, avoiding the leakage issue of pure PEG. Its latent heat values in the melting and solidifying processes are 56.2 and 30.6 J g-1, respectively. Additionally, this SSPCM has good thermal stability and thermal reliability for thermal storage and thermal management according to thermogravimetric and thermal cycling tests. The volume- and surface resistivity of the SSPCM at ambient temperature are 108.87 omega m and 108.92 omega, respectively, showing good antistatic performance.