Variation in cooling performance of a bio-based phase change material by adding graphene nanoplatelets with surfactants

Abstract

In this paper, thermal characteristics of various phase change materials induced with additives and surfactants are studied to enhance cooling properties and chemical stability. In this regard, graphene nanoplatelets at various mass fractions are integrated with surfactant-induced-PureTemp PCM and used as a heat sink for an electric heating source. The surfactants considered in this study are sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, and sodium stearoyl lactylate. The thermal characteristics are measured in terms of indices such as thermal conductivity, thermal capacity, and time of reaching the reference temperature. The results indicate that composite samples are superior in cooling when compared to the plain PureTemp PCM. Also, the highest thermal conductivity and phase change enthalpy are recorded in NanoPCM-SDS at 5% GnPs mass fraction and NanoPCM-SSL at 1% GnPs mass fraction amounting to 1.03 W/m.K and 236.5 J/g, respectively. NanoPCM-SSL displayed the longest delay of 1015 s to reach the reference temperature of 43 °C.