Polyurethane foam based composite phase change microcapsules with reinforced thermal conductivity for cold energy storage

The purpose of this research is to develop a new type of core/wall material reinforced microcapsules by in-situ polymerization, which is applied to polyurethane foam (PUF) to prepared composite materials for cold chain transportation. The core material of MEPCMs was C₁₂, modified with Nano-CuO; the wall material was Melamine-Formaldehyde (MF), modified with Carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The comprehensive performances of MEPCMs and composite materials were measured by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, DSC, LFA, and TGA. The results indicated that the addition of CNTs or Nano-CuO has almost no effect on the spherical structure of the MEPCMs, and the thermal conductivity increased 108% compared to the ordinary MEPCMs. The modified microcapsules also showed excellent cycling stability and thermal stability. Microencapsulated phase change materials (MEPCMs) helped PUF to form uniform and dense cells, and the cell structure became denser with the increasing content of MEPCMs. The cold storage capacity of the composite materials with 10.3 wt% MEPCMs was 83% higher than ordinary PUF.