Study of ZrO2 nanopowders based stearic acid phase change materials

ZrO2 nanopowders based stearic acid phase change materials (PCMs) were prepared by high-energy milling. The concept of heat capacity factor (HCF) was used to analyze the thermal properties of the materials. The heat storage property of PCMs, containing the same content of stearic acid (23% by mass) in the starting materials but synthesized by different technical processes, was investigated by using HCF. It was found that there were vast influences of different dispersants on the heat capacity. The samples prepared with chloroform provided the best heat storage ability in all samples tested. (C) 2010 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.