Experimental evaluation of the hydrothermal stability of a silicone/zeolite composite foam for solar adsorption heating and cooling application. Issue 4 (31st July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Calabrese, Luigi; Brancato, Vincenza; Frazzica, Andrea
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied polymer science. Volume 137:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2019-07-31
• Subjects: adsorption heat pump -- hydrothermal stability -- mechanical stability -- SAPO‐34 -- silicone foams; Polymers -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; 668.9
• DOI: 10.1002/app.48311
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8995

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article evaluates the hydrothermal and mechanical stability of an adsorbent composite foam based on zeolite silicone for application in adsorption heat pump. The adsorption properties of the fresh composite adsorbents and their morphological features were already presented in previous papers. In the present work, hydrothermal aging of composite foams, at varying SAPO‐34 zeolite contents and under real operating conditions, was carried out in order to verify the stability of the synthetized material. This improvement of knowledge is a key point for the industrial application. This evaluation was successfully performed by means of adsorption measurements and compression test on aged samples, up to 1500 aging cycles. The adsorption properties of composite foams are effective and stable up to the maximum number of cycles of the aging process. Instead, from the mechanical point of view, composite foams with high content of zeolite, aged at long cycles, evidenced a slight stiffening that stimulates mechanical brittle behavior. The composite foam with 67% zeolite filler represents a threshold value beyond which the action of the hydrothermal aging implies a significant loss of flexibility and mechanical integrity, which limits its applicability under typical conditions. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci.2019, 136, 48311. Abstract :