Synthesis of shape stabilized phase change material with high thermal conductivity via in situ N-doped carbon derived from chitin

Stearic acid (SA) is recognized as a promising phase change material (PCM). Nevertheless, poor thermal conductivity and leakage are great challenges for SA in practical application. To this end, the shape stabilized PCM (CTX/SA) with high thermal conductivity is fabricated by impregnating SA into the in situ N-doped carbon (CTX) derived from chitin (CH). The thermal storage performance of CTX/SA is investigated to acquire the optimal carbonization temperature for CTX. Meanwhile, characterizations of FTIR, XRD, SEM, and N2 isothermal adsorption-desorption are conducted to reveal the influence of CTX on thermal storage performance. The synthesized CT800/SA exhibits high thermal conductivity of 0.461 W/(m center dot K) and thermal storage efficiency of 92.84 % with a low supercooling degree of 1.06 degrees C. CT800/SA also has desirable thermal stability and reliability even after 200 repeated thermal cycles. Moreover, the photothermal conversion of CT800/SA is 74.12 %.