Thermal properties of beeswax/graphene phase change material as energy storage for building applications

Increased energy consumption in buildings is a worldwide issue. This research is concerned with the implementation of a phase change material for thermal storage. This concept has gained great attention as a solution to reduce energy consumption in buildings. Beeswax, which is a phase change material with a high thermal capacity, is investigated in this research. This paper is intended to measure and analyze the thermal properties of beeswax/graphene as a phase change material. The melting temperature, thermal capacity and latent heat were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the thermal conductivity was investigated using a thermal conductivity measurement apparatus. To discover the change in the physical properties due to the effect of nanoparticles, the viscosity of the material was investigated as well. Based on the result from the DSC, the latent heat of 0.3 wt% beeswax/graphene increased by 22.5%. The thermal conductivity of 0.3 wt% beeswax/graphene was 2.8 W/m K. The existence of graphene nanoplatelets enhanced both the latent heat and thermal conductivity of the beeswax. Therefore, based on this result, beeswax/graphene is concluded to have the potential to reduce energy consumption in buildings. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.