Preparation and Energy Storage Properties of a Lauric acid/Octadecanol Eutectic Mixture

A phase change material (PCM) has the characteristics of latent heat storage, controllable phase transition temperature (PTT), and chemical stability. It can naturally regulate the ambient temperature in a certain range and reduce the load of air conditioning operation. Therefore, it plays an important role in the field of energy-saving buildings, and the PTT of PCM is one of the decisive factors. In this paper, through analyzing PCM installed in solar buildings at various regions, a binary eutectic mixture (EM) was prepared from lauric acid (LA) and octadecanol (OD) by the method of mixed melting, and the PTT and enthalpy of the EM were 39.87 °C and 186.94 J/g, respectively. The PTT, latent heat, and EM ratio were determined by theoretical calculation, the step cooling curve, and DSC. FT-IR result shows that no chemical reaction occurs among the components of composites, and the molecular forces are uniform and stable. XRD results further proves that no other phases existed in the composites. Thermal cycles (500) and the TG test show that the EM has excellent thermal stability and heat resistance, which meets the engineering application. Due to the thermodynamic properties of the EM, it can be used in thermal cooling of electronic systems, building envelopes, and thermal storage in solar buildings to obtain a good energy-saving effect.