An Efficient Environmentally Friendly Composite Material Based on Carbonized Biological Cellulose/Paraffin: Thermal and Sustainable Properties Analysis

Abstract

A shape-stabilized composite phase change material (SS-CPCM) with paraffin (PA) and biological porous carbon (BPC) was prepared. Freeze-dried biological-cellulose include abandoned pomelo peel (APP) and tangerine peel (ATP) were carbonized in vacuum at 800°C to obtain BPC to be used as a matrix material to prevent PA leakage and enhance thermal conductivity. A vacuum impregnation process was utilized to obtain the SS-CPCM. Scanning electron microscopy showed that BPC (carbonized APP is subsequently referred to as BPC1 and carbonized ATP as BPC2) has a porous, honeycomb-like structure, and that the paraffin encapsulated by the pores is evenly distributed. The SS-CPCM2 (made from ATP) had the highest thermal conductivity (2.10 W/m K), which is 1.89 and 10 times that of the SS-CPCM1 (made using APP) and pure PA, respectively. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermo-gravimetric analysis were applied to determine the thermal performance and thermal reliability of the SS-CPCM. Therefore, the prepared SS-CPCM has potential in the field of energy storage.