A novel form-stable phase change material based on elastomeric copolymer and carbon nanotubes with photo-thermal conversion performance

In this paper, the composite form-stable phase change materials (FSPCMs) with a photo-thermal conversion function for solar thermal energy storage were prepared using paraffin wax (PW) as a PCM, both styrene ethylene butylene styrene (SEBS) and olefin block copolymer (OBC) as supporting materials, and carbon nanotubes (CNT) as an efficient light-absorbing material. The PW/SEBS + OBC composite with 80 wt% PW can maintain a stable shape without leakage above the phase change temperature. The latent heat of the PW/SEBS + OBC/CNT composite with 8 % CNT is 136.2 J/g, and the entrapment efficiency is 71.2 %. The prepared composite FSPCMs have good flexibility, thermal reliability, and thermal stability. And the absorbance of PW/SEBS + OBC/CNT composite is higher than that of pure PW and PW/SEBS + OBC. Moreover, the photo-thermal conversion efficiency of PW/SEBS + OBC/CNT composite with 2 wt% CNT, 4 wt% CNT, 6 wt% CNT, and 8 wt% CNT is 72.9 %, 81.9 %, 82.3 %, and 83.2 %, respectively. The prepared composite FSPCMs have a promising application in the field of solar energy storage.