Low mass fraction impregnation with graphene oxide (GO) enhances thermo-physical properties of paraffin for heat storage applications

D. Dsilva Winfred Rufuss, S. Iniyan, L. Suganthi, P.A. Davies

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Whereas previous researchers analyzed the thermal behavior of paraffin waxes impregnated with graphene oxide nanoparticles (P-GONP) at high mass fraction ( > 1%), this paper analyzes behavior and stability at only 0.3% mass fraction. GONP was prepared by Hummer’s method. The morphology was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transformation-Infrared (FT-IR) Spectrometer and the thermal properties were measured using laser flash analyser (LFA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and thermal cycling. LFA showed a 101.2% and 94.5% increase in the thermal conductivity of P-GONP compared to pure paraffin (P) in solid and liquid state respectively. Melting and solidifying temperatures and latent heat were found to be 63.5, 59 °C & 102 kJ/kg and 57.5, 56 °C & 64.7 kJ/kg for P and P-GONP respectively. Thermal cycling over 4000 cycles showed that P-GONP was 27% more stable than P. The latent heat was 64.7 kJ/kg, a 36.5% deterioration compared to virgin paraffin. Compared against higher mass fraction impregnation, lower mass fraction P-GONP was found to have almost equivalent thermo-physical properties (namely thermal conductivity, melting and solidifying characteristics, thermo-chemical stability and reliability) while providing considerable cost saving.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)226–233
Number of pages8
JournalThermochimica Acta
Volume655
Early online date10 Jul 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Sept 2017

Keywords

  • phase change material
  • stability
  • thermal properties
  • graphene oxide
  • paraffin

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