Thermal properties and thermal conductivity enhancement of composite phase change materials using myristyl alcohol/metal foam for solar thermal storage

•MA/metal foam composites were fabricated under vacuum treatment.•MA/nickel foam composites performed better in impregnation ratios.•MA/metal foam composites were analyzed by thermal measurement techniques.•Thermal conductivity of composites was nearly 7.51 times higher than the pure PCM.

Myristyl alcohol (MA)/metal foam composite phase change materials (CPCMs) were fabricated by vacuum melting infiltration. MA was used as the phase change material (PCM) and the metal foam was used as skeleton. Nickel foam and copper foam were both employed for comparison. Furthermore, effects of pore size of metal foam on thermal performances were analyzed. Thermal properties, including differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) test results and thermogravimetry analyzer results (TGA) were investigated and recorded. Compared with latent heat of pure MA, the latent heat of CPCMs for the melting process decreased by 3-29%. TGA results showed that the composites have good thermal stability. Fourier transformation infrared spectroscope (FT-IR) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) were used to determine chemical and crystalloid structure of the composites, respectively. Microstructures of the composites were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the results indicated that the PCM was well absorbed by the metal foam. Thermal conductivity of the composites was measured by thermal conductivity meter (TCM), and the outcome proved that MA/metal foam composites have an improved thermal conductivity.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (316KB)Download full-size image