Thermal compatibility of Sodium Nitrate/Expanded Perlite composite phase change materials

The present work focused on the preparation and characterization of a new thermal storage material applied in thermal energy management. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that Expanded Perlite (EP) has a good thermal stability varying from 300 °C to 900 °C. Morphology of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that sodium nitrate is uniformly encapsulated and embedded in the three-dimensional network structure of EP. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy indicated that the EP is physically combined with the nitrate salt. Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) indicated that the composites have good thermal stability. The adsorption capacity of loose EP was 213.21%. When the EP mass fraction varying from 10% to 60%, thermal conductivity decreased with the content of EP increased, and the highest thermal conductivity is 1.14 W (m K)−1 at 300 °C. SEM revealed the network structure of EP provided thermal conduction paths which enhanced the thermal conductivity of the composites. All results indicated that EP could be a good adsorption material to be applied in the thermal storage fields.