Systematic Melting Point Adjustment For Certain Salt Hydrates

In recent years, the latent storage community presented hundreds of novel phase change materials (PCM, pure substances and mixtures) usable for various applications. Enthalpies of fusion and melting points are two major thermophysical properties needed when deciding whether a PCM is suitable for a specific application. Oftentimes, a promising PCM for an application must be rejected because its melting point is deviating from the ideal melting point (MP) by a few degrees Celsius. Even though the basic principle of using additives to achieve melting point depression has been known since many years, it has been rarely applied to manipulate the MP of promising PCMs. This study reports preliminary experiments conducted on tampering with melting points of specific, promising salt-based PCMs. Finding a systematic pathway to influence the melting point of salt hydrates using mixtures or additives could revolutionize the discovery of new and suitable PCMs for specific applications.

Automated summary

The study reports preliminary experiments on tampering with the melting points of specific, salt-based PCMs. Finding a systematic pathway to influence the melting point of salt hydrates using mixtures or additives could revolutionize the discovery of new and suitable PCMs for specific applications.