Easy and industrially applicable impregnation process for preparation of diatomite-based phase change material nanocomposites for thermal energy storage

Thermal regulating performance of gypsum/(C18–C24) composite phase change material (CPCM) for building energy storage applications

“…The stabilization of PCMs into porous building materials is the simpler and more economical due to the high costs of the PCM encapsulation. Various types of porous building materials and PCMs have been investigated to produce stabilized composite PCM such as dodecanol/cement [12], lauryl alcohol/kaolin [13], capric-lauric acid eutectic mixture/gypsum [14], paraffin/perlite [8], capric-palmitic eutectic mixture/expanded vermiculite [15], RT20/montmorillonite [16], and paraffin/diatomite [17,18]. Furthermore, these type composites have been used by a number of research groups to prepare energy storing plasters, wallboards, hollow bricks, concrete blocks, and wall covering materials and the reported results are encouraging for application the composite PCMs in building envelope [12,[19][20][21].…”

Development of pentadecane/diatomite and pentadecane/sepiolite nanocomposites fabricated by different compounding methods for thermal energy storage

“…PCM:diatomite and PCM:sepiolite mass ratios of 40:60 were used in all methods. This ratio was determined in previous studies by the authors from the standpoint of thermal stability …”

“…Different compounding processes are used in the preparation of these composites, such as direct impregnation, vacuum impregnation, melting intercalation, solution intercalation, melting adsorption, and fusion adsorption …”

“…Diatomite or diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock made up of the fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms called diatoms. The frustules in diatomite have a tubular structure with micro and nanopores that become important in composite preparation . Recently, many researchers have conducted studies on diatomite‐based PCM composites to prevent leakage of PCMs .…”

“…Different organic and inorganic PCMs were used in PCM/diatomite composites, such as stearic acid, palm oil, palmitic acid‐capric acid eutectic mixture, decanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, eutectic mixtures of hexadecanoic acid and octadecanoic acid, polyethylene glycol, octadecane, potassium nitrate, sodium sulfate, lithium nitrate, sodium nitrate, and magnesium nitrate hexahydrate . However, the most widely used PCM is paraffin …”