Hydrophilic modification of carbon nanotube to prepare a novel porous copper network-carbon nanotube/erythritol composite phase change material. Issue 2 (1st February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bao, Shengyou; Wei, Qiuping; Cao, Jun; Li, Haichao; Ma, Li; An, Junjie; Lin, Cheng-Te; Luo, Jingting; Zhou, Kechao
• Is Part Of: Composite interfaces. Volume 28:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 175
• Page End: 189
• Publication Date: 2021-02-01
• Subjects: Porous copper network(PCN) -- carbon nanotubes(CNTs) -- hydrophilic modification -- phase change materials(PCM) -- thermal conductivity enhancement; Composite materials -- Periodicals; 620.11805
• DOI: 10.1080/09276440.2020.1740520
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0927-6440

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Carbon nanotube(CNT)-based materials is a promising thermally conductive filler for phase change materials(PCM), while its widely applications are greatly hampered by the hydrophobicity of CNTs. In this work, a novel composite PCM based on hydrophilic modified porous copper network(PCN)-CNT filler and erythritol(Ery) was explored. The hydrophilic modified PCN-CNT filler can be obtained upon heat treatment. During the heat treatment process, defects and oxygen-containing functional groups formed on the surface of CNTs, thus improving the hydrophilicity of CNTs. The optimum heat treatment temperature is determined to be 500°C, at which the adsorptive capacity of the modified filler reaches 88.2% for Ery, larger than 28.2% of the unmodified one. The as-prepared PCN-CNT/Ery composite PCM maintains a similar melting point to that of pure Ery, and its latent heat is as high as 213.2 J g −1 . The thermal conductivity of PCN-CNT/Ery composite PCMs increases by 892% and 51% compared with pure Ery and PCN/Ery composite PCM, respectively. Moreover, the PCN-CNT filler could help improve the supercooling of Ery significantly. Besides, the enthalpy loss of the composite PCM was negligible after 20 cycles. Graphical Abstract: Defects and functional groups are introduced on the surface of CNTs by heat treatment. Therefore, the heat-treated CNTs showed a transition from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, thus improving the interface compatibility of PCN-CNT and Ery phases in composites. Highly conductive PCN-CNT filler modified under the optimal heat treatment temperature compound with pure Ery by vacuum impregnation, significantly improving the thermal transfer properties of Ery. UF0001