Preparation and characterization of nanoencapsulated synthetic soybean oil derivative-an abundant and environmentally friendly phase change material-heat transfer analysis and applications

The thermal properties of a phase change material (PCM), together with its environmental health risks and natural abundance are important aspects to consider when choosing one for a domestic application. In this work, a soybean oil derivative, which comes from one of the most abundant crops on Earth, is proposed as PCM. A heat transfer model was developed to compare the performance of the proposed PCM, under the same boundary and initial conditions, with other materials reported in literature that have well-known disadvantages in terms of flammability, renewability, abundance and environmental care. Results showed that its performance was as good as theirs. Nanocapsules of the PCM coated with TiO2 were prepared and characterized physical, thermal and morphologically. Thermal studies were carried out in a device designed and constructed simulating a water heater, and a reduction of about 70% of the PCM phase thermal resistance due to the TiO2 shell was observed. Furthermore, the calculated thermal energy stored in the device filled with nanoencapsulated PCM was 10.6% higher with respect to the blank, and the total cooling time of the water was increased by over 18% thanks to the PCM.