Polyethylene Glycol–Calcium Chloride Phase Change Materials with High Thermal Conductivity and Excellent Shape Stability by Introducing Three-Dimensional Carbon/Carbon Fiber Felt

Abstract

The low thermal conductivity and poor shape stability of phase change materials (PCMs) have seriously restricted their applications in energy storage and energy saving. In this paper, poly­(ethylene glycol)–calcium chloride/carbon/carbon fiber felt (PEG-CaCl2/CCF) PCMs were fabricated by a liquid-phase impregnation–vacuum drying–hot compression molding method with carbon/carbon fiber felt as the three-dimensional (3D) thermal skeleton and PEG-CaCl2 as the polymer PCM matrix. PCMs were heated and compressed by the compression confinement method to improve the contact area between 3D skeleton carbon fibers. The carbon fibers in PCMs presented a 3D (X–Y–Z) network structure and the fiber arrangement was anisotropic, which were beneficial to improve the thermal conductivity of PCMs in the fiber direction. The compression confinement can improve the contact area between the fibers in the 3D skeleton. As a result, the thermal conductivity of PEG-CaCl2/CCF PCMs can reach 3.35 W/(m K) (in-plane) and 1.94 W/(m K) (through-plane), about 985 and 571% of that of PEG-CaCl2, respectively. Due to the complexation of PEG and CaCl2 and the 3D skeleton support of carbon fiber felt, PCMs have excellent shape stability. The paper may provide some suggestions for the preparation of high thermal conductivity and excellent shape stability PCMs.

Combinatorial effect of calcium chloride and polyethylene glycol on efficient isolation of small extracellular vesicles

“…Calcium ions are known to bind specifically with the phospholipid head group zone, resulting in membrane swelling and charging in the case of PS lipids. 17 The inclusion of PEG along with calcium chloride helps to gather small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) by forming an insoluble complex of PEG-Ca 2+ -sEV. Later, the chelating agent EDTA, which binds to calcium chloride, breaks down the assembly of PEG, calcium ions, and sEVs, resulting in the release of free sEVs as the precipitate dissolves.…”

Recent Studies on Thermally Conductive 3D Aerogels/Foams with the Segregated Nanofiller Framework

“…Other than carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers have been used as 1D fillers in 3D polymer composites for TMAs [74][75][76][77][78]. These carbon fiber composites are typically fabricated by the combination of several steps, including carbonization, graphitization, and high-temperature hot-press molding techniques, and possess high TCs in both the axial and radial directions, with in-plane TC exceeding 900 W/mK [79,80].…”

Characterization of silica-PEG-CaCl2 composite sorbents in an open thermochemical heat storage reactor

“…PEG is often used in phase change material (PCM) applications. Its association with calcium chloride [18][19] or with silica [20] has been reported to prevent the leakage of the polymer. Here, the ability of a silica / PEG matrix to stabilize calcium chloride in thermochemical heat storage applications is assessed for the first time.…”