Synthesis and thermal characterization of paraffin-based nanocomposites for thermal energy storage applications

Nowadays, phase change materials (PCMs) have gained considerable attention for thermal energy storage applications. However, commonly used PCM, such as paraffin wax, suffers from low thermal conductivity. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to develop relatively higher thermally conductive PCM composites employing different mass fractions of paraffin wax and two thermally conductive nanomaterials, namely silicon carbide (SiC) and silver (Ag). After the synthesis, the thermal characterizations have been performed. Results showed a significant enhancement in thermal conductivity. It has been found that 15 wt% SiC contained nanocomposite exhibits almost 58.2% improvement of thermal conductivity over the parent paraffin, whereas 15 wt% Ag contained nanocomposite reveals 31.2% improvement. However, a slight reduction in the latent heat of fusion, melting point, and specific heat capacity is observed at the lower concentration of nanoparticles in the composites, and it becomes more significant at the higher concentration (>5 wt%). Thus, all the presented results would carry vital importance for the selection of an optimal PCM nanocomposite for designing a nano-PCM based thermal energy storage system.