PREPARATION AND THERMAL PERFORMANCES OF NANO-ALUMINA/ PARAFFIN COMPOSITES AS A PHASE-CHANGE MATERIAL

Nano-alumina/paraffin composites as a phase-change material were prepared. Paraffin was used as a PCM (phase-change material) and nano-alumina was added to improve the thermal conductivity. An infrared heat camera was used to observe the temperature distribution in samples. The thermal performances of the composites were investigated by the differential scanning calorimetry. After 50 cycles, the melting and solidifying latent heats of the composites were 168 Jg−1 and 176 Jg−1. The thermal conductivity of the paraffin with 0.5 wt.% nano-alumina (0.361 W · m−1 · K−1) increased by about 72% compared to pure paraffin (0.21 W · m−1 · K−1). Chemical degradation of the nano-alumina/paraffin composites did not occur.