Synthesis and thermal properties of cross-linked poly(acrylonitrile-co-itaconate)/polyethylene glycol as novel form-stable change material

In this paper, a novel form-stable phase change materials (FSPCMs) of cross-linked poly(acrylonitrile-co-itaconate) (P(AN-co-IA))/polyethylene glycol (PEG) blend was prepared successfully. And it was systematically characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Raman, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarized optical microscopy (POM), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Thermogravimetric (TG) and thermal conductivity measurements. FTIR analysis indicated that the cross-linked network had been synthesized. The results of DSC analysis showed that the cross linked FSPCMs had good thermal reliability and heat storage durability after 1000 thermal cycles. The phase change temperature of the cross-linked FSPCMs was in the range of 23-53 degrees C and the phase change enthalpy was around 118.5 J/g, respectively. The XRD results indicated that PEG units in the cross-linked FSPCMs had the same crystal structure as the pure PEG. And it was observed that the PEG was dispersed into the network of the solid cross-linked P(AN-co-IA) by investigation of the structure of the FSPCMs using a SEM. TGA results confirmed that the initial degradation temperature of the cross-linked FSPCMs was 249 degrees C, which proves that cross-linked FSPCMs appeared good thermal stability. These results indicated that cross-linked FSPCMs could be considered as latent heat storage material for thermal energy storage applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.