Disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate/fumed silica composites with high latent heat and suitable phase change temperature for use in building roof

Introducing phase change materials (PCM) with suitable phase change temperature and large latent heat into the application of building roofs is conducive to building energy efficiency, which can reduce indoor temperature fluctuation and improve thermal comfort. In this paper, the optimized disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate (DHPD) was combined with fumed silica (FS) to prepare a new type of DHPD/FS composites, with a phase change temperature of 41.5 °C, a latent heat of change of 103.46 J/g, and an optimal content of 22.5 % of FS. The leakage experiments proved that there was no leakage of the PCM at this ratio, and after 200 cycles of thermal cycling, the phase change temperature of DHPD/FS composites basically remains unchanged, with good thermal reliability, but the addition of FS will make the material decrease in thermal conductivity, and the thermal conductivity is reduced to 0.19 W·m−1·K−1. Furthermore, the study investigated the application of the encapsulated DHPD/FS composites as a phase change board on the roof. The results indicated that the inclusion of the phase change board improved indoor thermal comfort and demonstrated good thermal performance. When the phase change board was positioned in the top layer, the enhancement of thermal comfort was most optimal.