Chemical Engineering Journal 437 (2022) 135407

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Chemical Engineering Journal

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Encapsulation of dodecane in gasification biochar for its prolonged

thermal/shape stability, reliability, and ambient enthalpy storage
Dimberu G. Atinafu, Beom Yeol Yun, Sungwoong Yang, Sumin Kim *
Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Latent heat storage based on phase-changing materials (PCMs) is a promising technology for thermal energy
Biochar storage because of its large heating enthalpy and isothermal phase-transition temperature. However, the prac­
Thermal energy storage tical applications of PCMs is highly restricted because of their intrinsically low thermal conductivity, which limits
Renewable precursors
real-time energy storage/release, seepage during the phase-transition process, and expensive supporting mate­
Phase change materials
rials. Therefore, the development of shape-stable composite PCMs by using renewable precursors, such as
biomass, has received considerable research attention because of their low cost, environmental friendliness, and
availability. In this study, waste biomass materials (food waste and wood waste) activated by KOH were pyro­
lyzed to produce biochar/biocarbon and subsequently used for organic PCM, dodecane, encapsulation. The
obtained biochar exhibited a high specific surface area and pore size distribution. The biochar–dodecane com­
posite (FWP) was designed by using a solvent-free facile vacuum impregnation method. The composite materials
exhibited high leakage resistance, improved thermal stability, enhanced thermal conductivity, and improved
PCM loading capacity (67.98%). FWP exhibited high latent heat retention of 87.7% after multiple thermal cycles
and excellent chemical compatibility with composite constituents. Thus, biochar, derived from biowaste, with
organic PCM can be effective in numerous thermal-regulation applications, including air conditioning, and
further open avenue for converting waste-to-energy.

1. Introduction storage because of its high heating enthalpy, cost-effectiveness, and

According to the International Energy Agency, in the Stated Policies
Scenario, CO2 emissions may increase to 36 gigatonnes (Gt) by 2030 [1].
In 2021, energy-related CO2 emissions activities increased by 4.8% (over
1500 Mt CO2) as demand for coal, oil, and gas rebounded, reversing 80%
of the pandemic-related emission reduction in 2020 although global
energy-related CO2 emissions remained at 31.5 Gt [2]. Although the use
of renewable energy (e.g., solar photovoltaic, wind, and biomass) has
increased considerably, another industrial revolution that focuses on
low-carbon, sustainable, and accessible energy is urgently required
[3,4]. Thermal energy, which consists of approximately 60%–70% of the
world’s current energy consumption, has received considerable atten­
tion for use in various commercial and industrial areas because of its
potential in low-cost (<US$20 kWh− 1) energy generation in the GW
scale [5,6]. However, the storage problem of thermal energy results in
an imbalance in energy supply and demand, which is a major obstacle to
improving its operational efficiency. Latent heat storage based on phase-
changing materials (PCMs) is a promising technology for thermal energy
suitability to resolve the imbalance in heat supply and consumption
because of its capability of storage and release [5,7,8]. It has been
broadly employed in different applications, such as building energy
conservation [9,10], food preservation [11], shape memory and
adjustable electromagnetic interference shielding functions [12], and
battery thermal management systems [13].
However, the intrinsically low thermal conductivity, which restricts
real-time energy charging/discharging and leakage during the phase-
change process greatly limit their scale-up applications of pristine
PCMs [14,15]. Hence, shape-stable PCMs have been prepared using
different supporting materials, such as metal–organic framework
[16,17], Ti3C2Tx Mxene [18], graphene aerogel [19], graphene oxide
[20,21]. The confining agent possesses the benefit of a high surface area
and capillary force to encapsulate the PCMs inside the pores and
improve the thermal conductivity as well as prevent leakage during the
phase-change process [22]. Liu et al. [20] developed Fe3O4/GO three-
dimensional network to encapsulate polyethylene glycol (PEG). The
composite showed improved shape stability and thermal conductivity by

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kimsumin@yonsei.ac.kr (S. Kim).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.135407
Received 26 December 2021; Received in revised form 7 February 2022; Accepted 18 February 2022
Available online 23 February 2022
1385-8947/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
D.G. Atinafu et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 437 (2022) 135407

Table 1 Table 2
Specific surface area of biochars prepared by the pyrolysis of different biomass Thermal properties of pure dodecane.
feedstocks. Thermal parameters Values
Feedstock Pyrolysis Specific surface area Refs
Melting/freezing enthalpy 150.4/150.7 J/g
temperature (◦ C) (m2g− 1)
Melting/freezing temperature − 9.7/-15.6 ◦ C
Wastewater sludge 500 71.6 [39] Thermal conductivity 0.135 W/m⋅K
Grass 500 3.33 [39]
Wheat straw 500 33.2 [39]
Shrimp hull 500 13.3 [39] PCM using n-dodecane and gasification biochar derived from food waste
Wheat straw pellets 700 23.2 [40] and wood without any strong acids treatment (e.g., hydrogen fluoride
Paper mill sludge 500 48.19 [41]
and sulfuric acid), which is inexpensive and helps an effort to convert
Paper mill sludge 600 86.43 [41]
Pine sawdust 550 189.2 [42] waste into resource/wealth. A solid chemical activation, using KOH, is
Pine saw dust 300 <1 [42] used to produce well-defined pore distribution and specific surface area
Pine saw dust (with steam 300 <1 [42] of biochar [38], which is the main challenge in encapsulating PCMs by
activation) biochar due to its extremely low specific surface area (most<100 m2
Pine saw dust (with steam 550 397.1 [42]
activation)
g− 1, Table 1 and low porosity. Thereby, the resulting micro- and mes­
Oilseed rape 700 77.6 [43] oporous characteristics of the supporting materials can improve the
Miscanthus straw pellets 700 37.2 [40] thermal properties of as-prepared composite PCM, including leakage
Banana peel waste 700 264 [44] resistance capability and thermal conductivity performance. The phys­
Sewage sludge 700 7.4 [43]
icochemical, microstructure, and thermal properties of the pristine and
Soft wood pellets 700 162 [40]
as-synthesized composite PCMs were investigated.

20% compared with pristine PEG. Yang et al. [23] introduced paraffin
wax into graphene aerogel hybridized with graphene foam. The ob­
tained composite revealed high shape stability at 60 ◦ C (above the
melting point of pristine paraffin wax) and enhanced thermal conduc­
tivity. Despite such remarkable achievements, challenges remain on the
commercialization and design of PCM supporting materials due to high
chemical and energy consumption, environmental problems, and low
availability of raw materials as well as insufficient PCM encapsulation
ratio in composite materials. For instance, graphene, which is mostly
employed to prepare shape stable PCMs and thermal conductivity [24],
utilizes hazardous chemicals, such as strong acids and KMnO4 in the
Humers’ process and hydrazine in chemical reduction. Meanwhile, the
production requires high cumulative energy demand ranges from 500 to
1100 MJ/kg and ecotoxicity potential of 1.7–1.9 CTU (comparative
toxic units)/kg [25]. At the same time, another PCM supporting nano­
materials, such as carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, and TiO2
development requires high energy (e.g., as high as 100,000 MJ/kg for
CNTs) [26]. Therefore, it is demanding to develop composite PCMs
using renewable resources (e.g., biomaterials, especially biochar as
support) to acquire shape stability, improved encapsulation capacity,
and thermal conductivity.
Biochar, which is a porous solid material obtained from biomass
pyrolysis, can be produced at small and industrial scales. It exhibits a
negative emission potential of 0.7 Gt C/yr [27,28]. Therefore, its
application is broadened to different areas, such as soil amendment
[29], catalysis [30,31], wastewater treatment [32], and energy storage
and conversion [33,34]. In recent reports, biochar has also been
employed to fabricate shape stable composite PCMs for thermal energy
storage applications [35]. For instance, biochar (up to 4 wt%) integrated
with artificial stone and n-octadecane can improve the mechanical
strength and insulation properties. The composite reduced the peak
temperature by 4–5 ◦ C and can be used for indoor temperature control
[36]. On the other hand, the encapsulation capacity, thermal conduc­
tivity performance, and other thermal performance of biochar-based
composite still need further improvement. For example, Jeon et al.
[37] introduced soy wax rice into husk biochar using a vacuum
impregnation approach. The thermal conductivity of the composite
reached 0.16 W/mK. Meanwhile, eicosane-encapsulated softwood and
wheat straw biochars exhibited an encapsulation ratio of 26.4% and
35.3% [35], which is quite insufficient for large-scale thermal man­
agement applications. Therefore, the development of biochar for PCM
support is yet to be comprehensively investigated.
In this study, to improve shape stability, thermal conductivity, and
encapsulation/loading capacity of PCMs, we developed a composite
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Biochar production
The biochar sample was obtained from the Association of Pacific Rim
Universities Sustainable Waste Management, Korea University, Republic
of Korea. Biochar was produced from food waste collected from a
canteen and mesquite wood waste (Kingsford Manufacturing Co., USA)
in a w/w proportion, that is, 60% wood waste + 40% food waste in a 10-
kW fixed-bed downdraft gasifier. Table S1 presents the proximate
analysis (dry basis, wt %) of the feedstock used for biochar production. A
1 M KOH solution was introduced into the biomass mixture at a 1:1 ratio
and continuously stirred for 2 h at 25 ◦ C. The mixture was dried at
110 ◦ C overnight and activated at 850 ◦ C for 2 h at a heating rate of 7 ◦ C/
min. The black product is represented as FW and used for phase-change
adsorption.
2.2. Preparation of composite phase change materials
The composite PCM was prepared using the vacuum impregnation
method with dodecane as the energy-storage material and biochar as the
solid scaffold. Liquid dodecane was introduced into a glass tube under
vigorous stirring. Table 2 shows the thermal properties of pure dodec­
ane. The composite material was placed in a vacuum-drying pump at
70 ◦ C overnight. Subsequently, the excess PCM in the glass was removed
through filtration and dried at 70 ◦ C for 8 h. Finally, a black solid,
termed a shape-stable PCM composite, namely FWP was obtained.
2.3. Characterization
The textural characteristics, such as pore size distribution and spe­
cific surface area of FW, were investigated using the density functional
theory (DFT) model and nitrogen (N2) sorption isotherm analyzer
(ASiQwin; Quantachrome) at 77 K under a relative pressure (P/Po)
range of 0–1.0. Furthermore, the morphologies of the as-synthesized
samples were evaluated by using field-emission scanning electron mi­
croscopy (FE-SEM; JEOL-7610F-Plus). The chemical characteristics
were investigated by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR, Nicolet 6700, Thermo Scientific, USA) in the range of 4000–500
cm− 1. Furthermore, the chemical state of the FW was investigated by
using X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS, K-alpha, Thermo Scien­
tific Inc., UK) with an X-ray source: Al Ka µ-focused monochromator
(1486.6 eV) with a variable spot size of 30–400 µm in 5-µm steps.
Melting/freezing enthalpy and phase-transition temperatures of pure

2
D.G. Atinafu et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 437 (2022) 135407

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of biochar production from biomass precursors.

dodecane and composite PCM were measured by using differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC, TA Instruments) from − 30 to 60 ◦ C at a
scanning rate of 10 ◦ C min− 1. Furthermore, the weight degradation of
the as-synthesized samples and pristine material was assessed through
thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, Q5000, TA Instruments) over a tem­
perature range of 20–600 ◦ C at a heating rate of 10 ◦ C/min under a N2
gas flow rate of 20 mL/min. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns
were characterized through powder X-ray diffractometry (D8 advance,
Bruker, Germany) with a Cu–K radiation source (λ = 1.541 Å) at a scan
rate of 10◦ ⋅min− 1. The leakage test of FWP was evaluated using hot-
stage digital camera at 70 ◦ C (above the melting points of pure dodec­
ane). In addition, the thermal diffusivity was measured by transient hot
disk NETZSCH (LFA 467) analysis at room temperature (20 ◦ C).
Whereas, the thermal conductivity of as-prepared composite material
was calculated using thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity, and
density of the sample.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Synthesis and structural characteristics of biocarbon
Fig. 1 displays a schematic of biochar synthesis with food and wood
waste as precursors. The mixture was subjected to pyrolysis at 850 ◦ C.
During the high-temperature hydrothermal process, biomass, mainly

Fig. 2. (a) Nitrogen sorption isotherm, (b) DFT pore size distribution of FW. Inset displays the BJH pore size distribution of FW. (c) BET surface area and (d) pore
volume of biochar samples at different biomass wt%.

3
D.G. Atinafu et al.
Fig. 3. (a) XRD pattern of the biocarbon after activation. (b) Raman spectrum of biochar. (c) TGA and corresponding DTG curves of biocarbon. (d) XPS survey
spectrum of biocarbon.
composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, decomposed into
organic components (e.g., aromatic compounds, ethers, ketones) and
transformed into biocarbon [45,46]. KOH was used as an activator to
prepare high porosity biochar, which is a promising activator for pro­
moting the surface area and pore distribution because of the solid–solid
reaction, followed by a solid–liquid reaction between biochar and KOH,
presumably produced by the reaction in (1)–(5). At low temperatures,
biomass, which is mostly cellulose, is initially decomposed into oligo­
saccharides and generates water because of dehydration [47,48], while
increasing the temperature to approximately 400 ◦ C. The activator also
decomposes and provides K2O and water. Subsequently, the carbon in
the biomass is consumed and sculptured from the water and gas re­
actions, which discharge hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The dis­
charged gas can react with water to provide CO2 and additional
hydrogen gas. K2O and CO2 can produce potassium carbonate.
Increasing the temperature up to 800 ◦ C and above can reduce K2O to
metallic potassium. The metal can function as a catalyst and is used to
enrich the pores and layers of carbonaceous materials [38,49]. Notably,
intermediate compounds, such as levoglucosan (60% of total cellulose
pyrolysis), can produce hydroxymethylfurfural through rearrangement
and dehydration, which degrades into transportable liquid (bio-oil) and
syngas [50,51].
2KOH → K2O + H2O (1)
C + H2O → CO + H2 (2)
CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 (3)
CO2 + K2O → K2CO3 (4)
2K2O + (C, H2) → 4 K + H2O + CO (5)
The isotherm of FW indicates the characteristics of type I and IV
isotherms (Fig. 2a. The results revealed sharp adsorption at low relative
pressure (P/P0 < 0.01) because of the presence of micropores and re­
veals an H4 type hysteresis loop in the p/po range of 0.4–0.8 because of
the existence of mesopore slit-like pores formed on the carbon layer
during the pyrolysis and activation step [52,53]. The materials also
exhibited an apparent increase in adsorption at P/P0 > 0.9, which
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Chemical Engineering Journal 437 (2022) 135407
indicated the presence of macropores in biocarbon [54]. DFT also
showed a micropore size concentration between 0.563 and 2.0 nm and
mesopore distribution from 3.42 to 3.82 nm (Fig. 2b. According to the
Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) model calculations, the specific surface
area of FW was 882.2 m2 g− 1, and its total pore volume was 0.59 cm3 g− 1
(Fig. 2c and d. The values were higher than those of biochars obtained
without KOH activation and exhibited a BET surface area of 98.9 m2 g− 1
and pore volume of 0.04 cm3 g− 1 and (Fig. S1 and Table S2 [55], which
is difficult to use for PCM adsorption. The formation of a high specific
surface area in FW is generally attributed to the collaborative results of
chemical activation (e.g., redox reactions between the potassium com­
pounds) and physical activation (e.g., gasification of the carbon), and
the enlargement of the biocarbon lattices by metallic K intercalation.
Biochars obtained from various biomass wt% proportions, such as 20%
food waste + 80% wood and 30% food waste + 70% wood exhibit a
specific surface area of 294.7 and 106.4 98.9 m2 g− 1 and pore volume of
0.05 and 0.01 cm3 g− 1, respectively. However, a high specific surface
area and pore volume are crucial for PCM loading [56]. Therefore,
biochar obtained from KOH activation, FW, is hereinafter discussed for
further characterization.
The biochar exhibited a typical amorphous structure with a small
and broad diffraction pattern (Fig. 3a, signifying a more disordered
structure. The structural features of biocarbon were evaluated through
Raman spectroscopy. Three prominent peaks located at 1350 (D band),
1590 (G band), and 2852 cm− 1 (2D-band) are displayed in Fig. 3b. The
D-band details the vibration of carbon atoms in a disordered state and
the existence of defects in the carbon structure, whereas the G band
reveals the first-order E2g mode of 2D graphite with sp2-bonded carbon
atoms. The intensity ratio of the G- and D-bands (IG/ID) was 0.94, which
indicated a low degree of graphitization as well as the presence of large
pores and disordered structures in the biocarbon material. This result is
consistent with that of the XRD analysis. The thermal stability of biochar
sample was also evaluated by TGA (Fig. 3c, which revealed high stability
with low weight degradation at approximately 548 ◦ C, as indicated by
D.G. Atinafu et al.
Fig. 4. High-resolution spectrum of (a) C 1 s and (b) O 1 s. SEM images of (c) biochar and (d) composite material.
the differential thermal gravimetry (DTG) curve. This result confirmed
the suitability of biochar as a PCM supporting material.
XPS measurements were performed to investigate the chemical states
of FW. The XPS survey spectrum of FW reveals the peaks of C (54.28%),
O (42.66%), and K (3.06%) (Fig. 3d, indicating the removal of most
metallic K from the biochar. As displayed in Fig. 4a, the deconvoluted C
1 s spectrum exhibited four characteristic peaks at 283.6, 284.0, 285.1,
and 288.9 eV, attributed to the sp2-C, sp3-C, C–O, and C═O, respectively,
[57] in which the sp2-C peak is higher than that of sp3-C. In addition, the
O 1 s spectrum exhibited three deconvoluted peaks at 530.8, 531.9, and
533.2 eV, which corresponded to the C═O, C–O, and O═C–OH bonds,
respectively. Furthermore, the microstructure of as-prepared biochar
and the corresponding composite PCM were characterized by SEM
(Fig. 4c and d. The biochar displayed large cavities and strong capillary
force, which helps more PCM encapsulation. After dodecane impreg­
nation, surface morphology became compacted without significant
vacant spaces.
3.2. Thermal performance
The fusion enthalpy (ΔHm), storage/release reliability, and shape
stability are the critical parameters for PCM performance. DSC mea­
surements were performed to evaluate the heating and cooling signals of
FWP and pristine dodecane (Fig. 5a and b. The pure dodecane shows a
fusion enthalpy and melting temperature of 150.4 J/g and − 9.7 ◦ C and
freezing enthalpy and freezing temperature 150.7 J/g and − 15.6 ◦ C,
respectively. The composite exhibited phase transition peaks similar to
those of pristine dodecane, which confirmed the physical assembly of
the composite components. FWP maintained 67.98% fusion enthalpy
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Chemical Engineering Journal 437 (2022) 135407
and 58.45% freezing enthalpy, with 102.2 J/g (Fig. 5c. Compared with
pristine dodecane, the peak intensity of FWP exhibited a descending
trend, which revealed that the dodecane chain in the FWP cannot be
completely crystallized because of the confining and space steric effect
of the biocarbon structure [58]. This value is highly competitive with
the reported composite materials (Table 3. Furthermore, the thermal
stability was examined using TGA. As shown in Fig. 5d and inset, pris­
tine dodecane underwent one-step thermal degradation with a
maximum mass-loss rate of 176.8 ◦ C, whereas FWP exhibited two-step
degradation at approximately 100.5 ◦ C (because of removal of impu­
rities such as water) and 552.8 ◦ C (presumably because of the degra­
dation of organic chains from the composite material).
The chemical compatibility was characterized through FTIR. Two
prominent peaks of dodecane, methyl and methylene, were detected at
2853 and 2921 cm− 1, respectively, and the peaks at 1464 and 721 cm− 1
could indicate in-plane and out-of-plane bending vibrations of alkyl,
respectively, which are characteristics of dodecane. It can be seen that
the pristine dodecane and FWP exhibited similar peak features without
any new peak detection, which implied that the composite components
are assembled physically. To prove the reliability performance of the as-
prepared sample, three heating–cooling cycles were performed. The DSC
curves obtained after cycling are displayed in Fig. 6b. Latent heat stor­
age of 89.6 J/g was recorded, which exhibited low reduction (87.7%
retention). The onset temperatures before and after cycling were similar,
which indicated an excellent reversibility of FWP. Furthermore, the
shape-stability of PCMs is a vital parameter for avoiding leakage and
improving the storage capacity of the materials. As displayed in the inset
of Fig. 6b, the shape stability of the as-prepared sample was evaluated
above the melting temperature of pristine dodecane and tracked by
D.G. Atinafu et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 437 (2022) 135407

Fig. 5. DSC curves of as-prepared sample: (a) heating and (b) cooling. (c) latent heat capacity and (d) TGA thermograms of pristine dodecane and composite. Inset
shows the DTG curve of dodecane.

Table 3
Comparison of thermal properties of composite materials.
PCMs Supporting materials Tm (◦ C) ΔHm (J/g) Encapsulation ratio (%) Ref.

Paraffin Porous Al2O3/graphite foams 49.5 105.7 54.9 [59]

D-mannitol Polybenzobisoxazole fibers – ̴90* 49.2 [60]
Dodecane Montmorillonite/boron nitride − 9.7 52.0 34.6 [61]
Palm wax Rice husk biochar 59.9/52.2 92.1 50.1 [37]
Octadecane Graphene/SiO2 28.1 107.5 53.2 [62]
Polyethylene glycol Fe3O4-GNS/carbonized-wood-flour 55.2 98.1 56.6 [63]
Poly(hexadecyl acrylate) Cellulose/modified graphene 38.7 103 110.8 [64]
Dodecane Biochar/carbon nanotubes − 7.7 127.4 70.2 [65]
Octadecane xGnP 24.7 23.5 9.2 [66]
Octadecane Hierarchical porous biochar 29.3 105.8 42.2 [67]
Polyethylene glycol Carbon cloth 60.6 104.1 54.0 [68]
Dodecane Food waste + wood waste biochar − 9.6 102.2 67.98 This work

* Indicates absolute latent heat value; Tm is melting temperature.

using a digital camera. The results revealed that after heating at 70 ◦ C
for 1 h, the sample maintained its original shape without obvious liquid
flow. It should be noted that the leakage performance of pristine
dodecane is not included because the material is initially found in the
liquid state. This can further have validated that FWP exhibited excel­
lent shape-stabilizing properties, which is conducive for FWP use in
thermal management systems.
Furthermore, the thermal diffusivity, which characterize the ability
of a materials conductivity in thermal energy storage/release process
[69], of FWP was characterized. Thereby, the composite PCM showed
improved thermal diffusivity of 0.32 mm2/s. It should be note that the
thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity has direct relation, as
shown the equation:
K
α=
ρC p
where α, K, ρ, and Cp are thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity,
density, and specific heat capacity of composite material. Therefore, the
composite material shows a thermal conductivity of 0.416 W/m⋅K,
which is 3.1 times higher than that of the thermal conductivity of pure
liquid dodecane (0.135 W/m⋅K).
4. Conclusions
In this study, we developed a composite PCM derived from renew­
able feedstocks, food waste and wood waste, and dodecane by using the
vacuum impregnation method. KOH is used as an activating agent to
improve the structural characteristics, such as pore size distribution and
surface area of the biochar. The prepared biochar exhibited a high
specific surface area (882.2 m2 g− 1) and favorable PCM adsorption pore
distribution characteristics. The obtained composite could effectively
encapsulate PCM without a chemical reaction. FWP exhibited high

6
D.G. Atinafu et al.
Fig. 6. (a) FTIR spectra of pristine dodecane and FWP. (b) DSC curve of FWP before and after cycling. The inset shows the shape stability performance of FWP
at 70 ◦ C.
shape and thermal stabilities, improved encapsulation capacity, and
latent heat storage (102.2 J/g) with excellent chemical compatibility of
composite components. After repeated heating–cooling cycling, the
composite demonstrated high latent heat retention (87.7%) with similar
onset and end-set phase change temperature. In addition, the composite
revealed enhanced thermal conductivity of 0.416 W/m⋅K, which is
essential for thermal energy charging and discharging process. Thus, the
composite can play a vital role in sustainable and renewable energy
development and is a promising candidate for thermal management
systems, including energy-saving buildings, waste heat recovery systems
because of its eco-friendly nature, commercial availability, and excellent
thermal properties.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of
Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No.
2021R1A4A1032306).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.135407.
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